^•X /^^"^ 1^'^ /^ /<^ 9 



<y7^. r^^ 



ILICRARYOFC0KORESSJ 

# : ^ ■ # 

# ^^ — /03^ # 

I UNITED STATES OF z\M ERICA, |. 



J-- 3 - 1 If 



THE LIFE 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. 



BY HER DAUGHTER 



MRS. JOANNA BETHUNK 



NEW YORK : > 
PUBLISHED BY 

JOHN S. TAYLOR, 

Brick Church Chapel, Corner of Park Row and 
Spruce Street 

1839. 






"Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 
1839, by John S. Tyalor, in the Clerk's office of the 
District Court of the Southern District of New York." 



fej w ^^ 



t. 



INTRODUCTION 



ABRIGDED EDITION, 



The life of Mrs. Isabeli./^ Graham is too well known 
to the religious world to need aught of studied eulogy ; ex- 
hibiting as it does the opinions and exemplary conduct of 
an eminently pious female, it has had an extensive circu- 
lation among the Christian community, with whom it is 
deservedly popular. 

In Mrs. Graham it-may be truly said, that all the Chns- 
tiM graces united; humble yet zealous, without pride or 
ostentation, she laid the foundation or assisted in the su- 
perstructure of many of the noblest charities of our city. To 
provide an asylum for the wanderer, the outcast, and the 
orphan -to train them for usefulness in this life, and for 
happiness in the world to come,-to do good to the souls and 
bodies of the poor, the afflicted, the widow and the father- 
less, were the objects she pursued with unabated zeal *,o the 
very close oflife; and her memorial may be seen in the 
success of many of our most flourishing institutions 
which are destined to be 

** Known in a future day, the pride of ours J'* 



IV INTRODUCTION. 

The well grounded hope that the record of such a life 

may be beneficial to the young and rising generation, has 
induced a near relative of Mrs. Graham's to abridge the 
original memoir, and it is now offered to the Christian 
public in this form, as a volume well adapted for Sabbath 
School Libraries. 



PREFACE. 



In writing the volumes of biography, so fre- 
quently presented to the world, the motives of 
their authors have been various, and the subjects 
diversified. 

Mankind take an interest in the history of those, 
who, like themselves, have encountered the trials, 
and discharged the duties, of life. Too often 
however, publicity is given to the lives of men> 
splendid in acts of mighty mischief, in whom the 
secret exercises of the heart would not bear a 
scrutiny. The memoirs are comparatively few of 
those engaged in the humble and useful walks of 
active benevolence, where the breathings of the 
soul would display a character, much to be ad- 
mired, and more to be imitated. 

As the celebrated Dr. Buchanan has observed, 
that if you were to ask certain persons, in Christ- 
ian countries, if they had any acquaintance with 
the religious world, they would say, " they had 
never heard there was such a world." So, whilst 



vi PREFACE 

the external conduct of individuals is made the 
subject of much critical remark, the religion of the 
heart, the secret source of action, too frequently 
escapes unnoticed and unexplored. 

It is only when the career of life is closed, that 
the character is completely established. On this 
account, memoirs of the living are, in few instan- 
ces, read with much interest by others ; or con- 
templated without the danger of self-deception, 
and too much complacency, by the living subjects 
themselves. 

But when the soul has departed, and the body 
sleeps in dust, it may prove useful to survivors, to 
examine the principles which led their departed 
friend to a life of honorable benevolence, and to 
a peaceful end. 

On this account, and at the urgent request of 
many respectable characters, it has been deemed 
advisable to publish some of the writings of Mrs, 
Isabella Graham, recently called away from us ; 
whose character was so esteemed, and whose 
memory is so venerated in the city where she 
dwelt. 

Self was so totally absent from all her motives 
of activity in deeds of benevolence, that she at 
once commanded love and respect ; and, in her 



PREFACE. Tft 

case peculiarly, unalloyed with any risings ol 
jealousy, envy, or distrust. 

Blessed with a spirit of philanthropy, with an 
ardent and generous mind, a sound judgment, and 
an excess of that sensibility which moulds the soul 
for friendship ; — of a cultivated mind, and rich ex- 
perience, her company was eagerly sought, and 
highly valued by old and young* Though happily 
qualified to shine in the drawing-room, her time 
was seldom wasted there ; for such a disposition 
of it would have been comparative waste, con- 
trasted with her usual employments. Her steps 
were never seen ascending the hill of ambition, 
nor tracing the mazes of popular applause. Where 
the widow and the orphan wept, where the sick 
and the dying moaned, thither her footsteps has- 
tened: and there, seen only by her heavenly 
Father, she administered to their temporal wants, 
breathed the voice of consolation on their ear^ 
shed the tears of sympathy, exhibited the truths 
01 the Gospel from the sacred volume, and poured 
out her soul for them in prayer to her Saviour 
and her God, 

In a few such deeds she rested not ; the know- 
ledge of them was not obtruded upon others, nor 
recorded by herself. The recollection of past 



viii PREFACE. 

exertions, was lost in her zeal to accomplish great- 
er purposes and greater good : her heart expand- 
ed with her experience, and her means were too 
limited, her activity almost inaction, in the abound- 
ing desires of her soul to alleviate the miseries, 
and to increase the comforts of the poor, the des- 
titute, and afflicted. 

Let no one think this picture the painting of 
fancy, or the coloring of partial affection. It is 
sober truth ; a real character. 

To know the latent springs of such external ex- 
cellence, is worthy of research ; they may be all 
summed up in this, the Religion of the Heart. 

The extracts from Mrs. Graham's letters, and 
from her devotional exercises, will form the best 
development of her principles ; and may, with 
the blessing of God, prove useful to those who 
read them. In all her writings will be manifested 
the power oH faith, the efficiency of grace ; and 
in them, as in her own uniform confession, Jesus 
will be magnified, and self will be humbled. 

In connexion with such a publication, it is 
thought that a short sketch of her life will prove 
acceptable ; a life chiefly distinguished by her 
continual dependence on God, and his unceasing 
faithfulness and mercy towards her. 



THE LIFE 

OF 

MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. 



Isabella Marshall (afterwards Mrs. Graham,) 
was born on the 29th day of July, 1742, in the 
Shire of Lanark, in Scotland. Her grandfather 
was one of the elders who quitted the established 
church with the Rev. Messrs. Ralph and Ebene- 
zer Erskine. She was educated in the principles 
of the Church of Scotland. Her father and mother 
were both pious ; indeed, her mother, whose maid- 
en name was Janet Hamilton, appears, from her 
letters, yet extant, to have possessed a mind of 
the same character as her daughter afterwards 
exhibited. 

Isabella was trained to an active life, as well as 
favored with a superior education. Her grand- 
father, whose dying bed she had assiduously at- 
tended, bequeathed her a legacy of some hundred 
pounds. In the use to which she applied this 
money, the soundness of her judgment thus early 
manifested itself. She requested it might be ap- 
propriated to the purpose of giving her a finished 
education. When ten years of age, she was sent 



10 THE LIFE OF 

to a boarding school taught by a ladv of distin- 
guished talents and piety. Often has Mrs. Gra- 
ham repeated to her children the maxims of Mrs, 
Betty Morehead. With ardent and unwearied 
endeavors to attain mental endowments, and 
especially moral and religious knowledge, she 
attended the instructions of Mrs, Morehead for 
seven successive winters. How valuable is early 
instruction ! With the blessing of God, it is pro- 
bable that this instructress had laid the foundation 
of the exertions and usefulness of her pupil in 
after life. How wise and how gracious are the 
ways of the Lord ! Knowing the path in which 
be was afterwards to lead Isabella Marshall, her 
God was pleased to provide her an education of 
a much higher kind than was usual in those days. 
Who would not trust that God, who alone can be 
the ffuide of our yoiah ? 

Her father, John Marshall, farmed a paternal 
estate, called the Heads, near Hamilton. This 
estate he sold, and rented the estate of Eldersley, 
once the habitation of Sir WiUiam Wallace. There 
Isabella passed her childhood and her youth. 
She had no precise recollection of the period at 
which her heart first tasted that the Lord was 
gracious. As long as she could remember, she 
took delight in pouring out her soul to her God. 

In the woods of Eldersley she selected a bush, 
to which she resorted in seasons of devotion ; 
under this bush, she was enabled to devote herself 
to God, through faith in her Redeemer, before she 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. 11 

had attained to her tenth year. To this favorite, 
and, to her, sacred spot, she would repair, when 
exposed to temptation, or perplexed with childish 
troubles. From thence she caused her prayers 
to ascend, and always found peace and consola- 
tion. 

Children cannot at too early a period seek the 
favor of the God of heaven. How blessed to be 
reared and fed by his hand, taught by his Spirit, 
and strengthened by his ^race ! 

The late Rev. Dr. Witherspoon, afterwards 
president of Princeton college, was at this time 
one of the ministers of the town of Paisley. Isa- 
bella sat under his ministry, and at the age of 
seventeen she was admitted by him to the sacra- 
ment of the Lord's supper. In the year 1765 she 
was married to Dr. John Graham, then a practis- 
ing physician in Paisley, a gentleman of hberal 
education, and of respectable standing. 

About a year after their marriage. Dr. Graham 
was ordered to join his regiment, the Royal 
Americans, then stationed in Canada. 

Before they sailed for America, a plan had been 
digested for their permanent residence in that 
country. Dr. Graham calculated on disposing of 
his commission, and purchasing a tract of land on 
the Mohawk river, to which his father-in-law, 
Mr. Marshall, and his family, were to follow him. 

The regiment was quartered at Montreal for 
several months, and here Jessie, the eldest daugh- 
ter of Dr. and Mrs. Graham, was bom. They 



12 THE LIFE OF 

afterwards removed to Fort Niagara, on Lake 
Ontario, and continued in garrison there for four 
years ; here Joanna and Isabella Graham v/ere 
born. Mrs. Graham always considered the time 
she passed at Niagara as the happiest of her days, 
considered in a temporal view. The officers of 
the regiment were amiable men, and attached to 
each other. A few of them were married, and 
their ladies were united in the ties of friendship. 
The society there, secluded from the world, ex- 
empt from the collision of individual and separate 
interests, which often create so much discord in 
large communities ; and studious to promote the 
happiness of each other, enjoyed that tranquillity 
and contentment, which ever accompany a dis- 
interested interchange of friendly offices. This 
fort being in a situation detached from other set- 
tlements, the garrison were consequently deprived 
of ordinances, and the public means of grace ; 
the Hfe of religion in the soul of Mrs. Graham 
was therefore at a low ebb. A conscientious ob- 
servance of the sabbath, which throughout life she 
maintained, proved to her at Niagara as a remem- 
brance and revival of devotional exercises. She 
wandered, on those sacred days, into the woods 
around Niagara, searched her bible, communed 
with her God and herself, and poured out her 
soul in prayer to her covenant Lord. Through- 
out the week, the attention of her friends, her 
domestic comfort and employment, and the amuse- 
ments pursued in the garrison, she used to confess, 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. 13 

occupied too much of her time, and of her affec- 
tions. 

Here we behold a little society enjoying much 
comfort and happiness in each other, yet falhng 
short of that pre-eminent duty, and superior bless- 
edness of glorifying, as they ought to have done, 
the God of heaven, who fed them by his bounty, 
and offered them a full and free salvation in the 
Gospel of his Son, No enjoyments, nor posses- 
sions, however ample and acceptable, can crown 
the soul with peace and true felicity, unless ac- 
companied with the fear and favor of Him, who 
can speak pardon to the transgressor, and shed 
abroad his love in the hearts of his children : 
thus giving an earnest of spiritual and eternal 
ble;;sedness, along with temporal good. 

The commencement of the revolutionary strug- 
gle in America, rendered it necessary, in the es- 
timation of the British government, to order to 
another scene of action, the sixtieth regiment, 
composed in a great measure of Americans. 
, Their destination was the island of Antigua ; 
Dr. Graham, Mrs. Graham, and their family, con- 
sisting now of three infant daughters, and two 
young Indian girls, sailed from Niagara to Oswe- 
go, and from thence, by a path through the woods, 
reached the Mohawk, which river they descended 
in batteaux to Schenectady. Here Dr. Graham 
left his family, and went to New York to complete 
a negotiation he had entered into for the sale of 



t4 THE LIFE 01^ 

his commission, to enable him to settle, as he 
originally intended, on a tract of land which it 
was in his power to purchase on the banks of the 
river they had just descended. The gentleman 
proposing to purchase his commission, not being 
able to perfect the arrangement in time. Dr. Gra- 
ham found himself under the necessity of pro- 
ceeding to Antigua with the regiment. Mrs. Gra- 
ham, on learning this, hurried down with her 
family to accompany him, although he had left it 
optional with her to remain. 

At New York they were treated with much 
kindness by the late Rev. Dr. John Rodgers, and 
others, especially by the family of Mr. Vanbrugh 
Livingston. With Mr. Livingston's daughter, the 
wife of Major Brown of the sixtieth regiment, 
Mrs. Graham formed a very warm friendship-, 
which continued during the life of Mrs. Brown. 

On their arrival in Antigua, Mrs. Graham was 
introduced to the families of two brothers of the 
name of Gilbert, gentlemen of property, and great 
piety. They were cor^nected with the Metho- 
dists, and by their pious exertions, and exemplary 
lives, with the blessing of God, became instru- 
ments of much good, to many in that island. 

Dr. and Mrs. Graham participated largely in 
the hospitality and friendship of many respectable 
families at St. Johns. 

Dr. Graham was absent in St. Vincents for 
some months; having accompanied, as surgeon, 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. 16 

a military force, under Major Etherington, sent 
thither to quell an insurrection of the Carribeans. 
On his return to Antigua, he found Mrs. Gra- 
ham almost inconsolable for the loss of her valua- 
ble mother, the tidings of whose death had just 
reached her. He roused her from this state of 
mind, by saying, that ^' God might perhaps call 
her to a severer trial, by taking her husband also." 
The w^arning appeared prophetic. On the 17th 
November, 1774, he was seized with a feverish 
disorder, which did not appear for the first three 
day^ to be alarming in the estimation of attend- 
ing physicians ; yet it increased afterwards with 
such violence, as to terminate his mortal existence 
on the 22d, The whole course of the Doctor's 
illness, produced a most interesting scene. He 
calculated on death ; expressed his perfect re • 
signation ; gave his testimony to the emptiness of 
a world, in which its inhabitants are too much oc- 
cupied in pursuing bubbles, which vanish into air ; 
and died in the hope of faith in that divine Re- 
deemer, ' who is able to save to the uttermost all 
that come unto God by Him.' At the commence- 
ment of her husband's illness, Mrs. Graham en- 
tertained no apprehensions of danger to his life. 
When hope as to continuance of temporal life was 
extinguished, her anxiety for his spiritual and 
eternal welfare exercised her whole soul. When 
he breathed his Icist, gratitude to God, and joy at 
the testimony he had given of dying in the faith 
of Jesus, iiftbided a support to her mind, which 



16 THjS life of 

the painful feelings of her heart could not im- 
mediately shake : but when the awful solemnities 
were over — earth to earth, dust to dust — and the 
spirit gone to God who gave it — when all was 
still, and she was a widow indeed— that tender- 
ness of soul, and sympathy of friendship, for 
which Mrs. Graham was ever remarkable, were 
brought into severe and tumultuous exercise. Here 
husband, companion, protector, was gone : a man 
of superior mind, great taste, warm affection, and 
domestic habits. She was left with three daugh- 
ters, the eldest of whom was not over five years 
of age ; and with the prospect of having another 
ehild in a few months. Of temporal property, 
she possessed very little : she was at a distance 
from her father's house : the widow and the 
fatherless were in a foreign land. The change in 
her circumstances was as sudden as it was great. 

She had no sympathizing heart, to receive and 
return the confidence of unbounded friendship ; 
and thus, by reciprocal communion, to alleviate 
the trials and enrich the enjoyments of life. All 
the pleasing plans, all the cherished prospects, of 
future settlement in life, were cut off in a moment. 
Whilst sinking into a softened indifference to the 
world, in the contemplation of her severe loss, she 
was, on the other hand, roused into exertion for 
the sustenance and support of her young family, 
whose earthly dependence was now necessarily 
upon her. 

It pleased God, however, to preserve her life 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. 17 

Not satisfied with the custom of the island, in 
burying so soon after life is extinct, her uneasiness 
became so great, that her friends judged it pru- 
dent to have her husband's grave opened, to con- 
vince her that no symptoms of returning life had 
been exhibited there. The fidelity of her heart 
was now as strongly marked as her tenderness. 
She dressed herself in the habiliments of a widow, 
and surveying herself in a mirror, determined ne- 
ver to lay them aside. This she strictly adhered 
to, and rejected every overture, afterwards made 
to her, of again entering into the married state. 
She breathed the feelings of her heart in a httle 
poem, in which she dedicated herself to her God 
as a widow indeed. 

On examining into the state of her husband's 
affairs, she discovered that there remained not 
quite two hundred pounds sterling in his agent's 
hands. 

These circumstances afforded an opportunity for 
the display of the purity of Mrs. Graham's prin- 
ciples, and her rigid adherence to the command- 
ments of her God in every situation. 

It was proposed to her, and urged with much 
argument, to sell the two Indian girls, her late 
husband's property. 

No considerations of interest, nor necessity, 
could prevail upon her to make merchandise of 
her fellow creatures, the works of her heavenly 
Father's hand, immortal beings. One of these 
girls accompanied her to Scotland, v^^here she was 



\S THE LIFE OP 

married ; and the other died in Antigua, leaving' 
an affectionate testimony to the kindness of her 
dear master and mistress. 

The surgeon's mate of the regiment was a young 
man whom Dr. Graham had early taken under his 
patronage. The kindness of his patron had so 
far favored him with a medical education, that he 
was enabled to succeed him as a surgeon to the 
regiment. 

Notwithstanding the slender finances of Mrs. 
Graham, feeling for the situation of Dr. H., she 
presented to him her husband's medical library, 
and his sword : a rare instance of disinterested 
regard for the welfare of another. 

This was an effort towards observing the second 
table of the law, in doing which she was actuated 
likewise by that principle which flows from keep- 
ing the first table also. Nor was the friendship 
of Dr. and Mrs. Graham misplaced. The seeds 
o( gratitude were sown in an upright heart. Dr. 
H., from year to year, manifested his sense of 
obligation, by remitting to the widow such sums 
of money as he could afford. This was a recipro- 
city of kind offices, equally honorable to the bene- 
factors, and to him who received the benefit : an 
instance, alas! too rarely met with in a selfish 
world. 

It may here be remarked, in order to show how 
much temporal supphes are under the direction of 
a special providence, that Dr. H.'s remittances 
and fripjidly letters were occasionally received 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. 19 

by Mrs. Graham, until the year 1795 ; after this 
period her circumstances were so favorably alter- 
ed, as to render such aid unnecessary ; and from 
that time, she heard no more from Dr. H., neither 
could she hear what became of him, notwithstand- 
ing her frequent inquiries. 

It may be profitable here, to look at Mrs. Gra- 
ham, contrasted with the society in temporal pros- 
perity around her. Many persons, then in Anti- 
gua, were busy and successful in the accumulation 
of wealth, to the exclusion of every thought, tend- 
ing to holiness, to God, and to heaven. The por- 
tion which they desired, they possessed. What 
then? They are since gone to another world. 
The magic of the words, " My property," ^' an 
independent fortune," has been dispelled ; and 
that for which they toiled, and in which they 
gloried, has since passed into a hundred hands; 
the illusion is vanished, and unless they made their 
peace with God through the blood of the cross, they 
left this world, and alas ! found no heaven before 
them. But amidst apparent affliction and outward 
distress, God was preparing the heart of this wi- 
dow, by the discipline of his covenant, for future 
usefulness ; to be a blessing, probably, to thou- 
sands of her race, and to enter, finally, on that 
' rest which remaineth for the people of God.' 

Her temporal support was not, in her esteem, 
" an independent fortune," but a life of depend- 
ence on the care of her heavenly Father : she 
had more delight in suffering and doing his will. 



20 THE LIFE OF 

than in all riches. ' The secret of the Lord is 
with those who fear him, and he will show them 
his covenant.' To those who walk with God, he 
will show the way in which they should go, and 
their experience will assure them that he directs 
their paths. 'Bread shall be given them, and 
their water shall be sure.' She passed through 
many trials of a temporal nature, but she was 
comforted of her God through them all ; and at 
last was put in possession of an eternal treasure 
in heaven, ' where neither moth nor rust doth 
corrupt, nor thieves break through and steal.' 
May this contrast be solemnly examined, and the 
example of this child of God made a blessing to 
many ! 

Previously to her confinement, and the birth of 
her son, Mrs. Graham set her house in order, in 
the probable expectation of her decease. She 
wrote a letter to her father in Scotland, commend- 
ing her young family to his protection ; also a 
letter to her friend, Mrs. G., giving the charge of 
her affairs, and of her family, to her and her hus- 
band, Captain G., during their stay in Antigua. 

In this letter, she expressed her full confidence 
in the friendship of Mrs. G. ; but at the same time 
declared her solicitude about her indifference to 
spiritual concerns; and dealt very faithfully with 
jier conscience, as to the propriety and necessity 
of her being more engaged to seek the favor of 
God, through the mediation and atonement of the 
blessed Redeemer, 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. 21 

at this time ; and she soon after dedicated her in- 
fant son to her God in baptism : giving him the 
name of his father, John. 

Having now no object to induce her to stay 
longer at Antigua, she disposed of her slender 
property, and placing her money in the hands of 
Major Brown, requested him to take a passage 
for herself and family, and to lay in their sea- 
stores. 

Mrs. Graham, after seeing a railing placed 
around the grave of her beloved husband, that 
his remains might not be disturbed until mingled 
with their kindred dust, bade adieu to her kind 
friends, and with a sorrowful heart, turned her face 
towards her native land. No ship offering for Scot- 
land at this time, she embarked with her family 
in one bound to Belfast in Ireland. Major Brown 
and his brother officers saw her safely out to sea; 
and he gave her a letter to a gentleman in Belfast, 
containing, as he said, a bill for the balance of 
the money she had deposited with him. After a 
stormy and tryingvoyage, she arrived in safety at 
her destined port. The correspondent in Ireland 
of Major Brown, delivered her a letter from that 
officer, expressive of esteem and affection ; and 
stating, as a proof of respect for the memory of 
their deceased friend, he and his brother officers 
had taken the liberty of defraying the expenses 
of her voyage. 

Consequently, the bill he had given was for the 
full amount of her original deposit ; and thus, like 



22 THE LIFE OP 

the brethren of Joseph, she found all her money 
in the sack\s moiUh. Being a stranger in Ireland, 
without a friend to look out for a proper vessel in 
which to embark for Scotland, she and her child- 
ren went passengers in a packet ; on board of 
which, as she afterwards learned, there was not 
even a compass. A great storm arose, and they 
were tossed to and fro for nine hours in imminent 
danger. The rudder and the mast were carried 
away ; every thing on deck thrown overboard ; 
and at length the vessel struck in the night upon 
a rock, on the coast of Ayr, in Scotland. The 
greatead confusion pervaded the passengers and 
crew. Amongst a number of young students, 
going to the University at Edinburgh, some where 
swearing, some praying, and all were in despair. 
The widow only remained composed. With her 
babe in her arms, she hushed her weeping family, 
and told them, that in a few minutes they should 
all go to join their father in a better world. The 
passengers wrote their names in their pocket 
books, that their bodies might be recognized, and 
reported for the information of their friends. One 
young man came into the cabin, asking, "is there 
any peace here ?" He was surprised to find a 
female so tranquil ; a short conversation soon 
evinced that religion was the source of comfort 
and hope to them both in this perilous hour. He 
engaged in prayer, and then read the 107th Psalm. 
Whilst repeating these words, ' he maketh the 
storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still,' 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. 83 

the vessel swung off the rock, by the rising of the 
tide. She had been dashing against it for an hour 
and a half, the sea making a breach over her, so 
that the hold was now nearly filled with water. 
Towards morning the storm subsided, and the 
vessel floated until she rested on a sand-bank. As- 
sistance was afforded from the shore, and the 
shipwrecked company took shelter in a small inn, 
where the men seemed anxious to drown the re- 
membrance of danger in a bowl of punch. How 
faithful a monitor is conscience ! this voice is listen- 
ed to in extreme peril ; but, oh, infatuated man ! 
how anxious art thou to stifle the warnings of wis- 
dom in the hour of prosperity ! Thousands of our 
race, no doubt, delay their preparation for eternity, 
until, by sudden death, scarce a moment of time 
is left to perform this solemn work. 

Mrs. Graham retired to a private room, to offer 
up thanksgiving to God for his goodness, and to 
commend herself, and her orphans, to his future 
care. 

A gentleman from Ayr, hearing of the ship- 
wreck, came down to offer assistance ; and in him 
Mrs. Graham was happy enough to recognize an 
old friend. This gentleman paid her and her 
family much attention, carrying them to his own 
house, and treating them with kindness and hos- 
pitality. 

In a day or two after this, she reached Cartside, 
and entered her father's dwelling ; not the large 
ancient mansion, in which she had left him, but a 



^ THE LIFE OF 

thatched cottage, consisting of three apartments* 
Possessed of a too easy temper, and unsuspecting 
disposition, Mr. Marshall had been induced to be- 
come security for some of his friends, whose failure 
in business had reduced him to poverty. He now 
acted as factor of a gentleman's estate in this 
neighborhood, of whose father he had been the 
intimate friend, with a salary of twenty pounds 
sterling per annum, and the use of a small farm. 

In a short time, however, his health failed him, 
and he was deprived of this scanty pittance, being 
incapable, as the proprietor was pleased to think, 
of fulfilling the duties of factor. 

Alive to every call of duty, Mrs. Graham now 
considered her father as added with her children, 
to the number of dependents on her industry. 
She proved, indeed, a good daughter; faithful, 
affectionate, and dutiful, she supported her father 
through his declining years ; and he died at her 
house, during her residence in Edinburgh, sur** 
rounded by his daughter and her children, who 
tenderly watched him through his last illness. 

From Cartside, she removed to Paisley, where 
she taught a small school. The slender profits of 
such an establishment, with a widow's pension of 
sixteen pounds sterling, were the means of sub- 
sistence for herself and her family. When she 
first returned to Cartside, a few religious friends 
called to welcome her home. The gay and weal- 
thy part of her former acquaintances, flutterers 
who, like the butterfly, spread their silken wings 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. 26 

only to bask in the warmth of a summer sun, 
found not their way to the lonely cottage o^' an 
afflicted widow. Her worth, although in after 
life, rendered splendid by its own fruits, was at 
this time hidden, excepting to those whose reflec- 
tion and wisdom had taught them to discern it 
more in the faith and submission of the soul, than in 
the selfish and extravagant exhibitions of that 
wealth, bestowed by the bounty of Providence, 
but expended too often for the purposes of vanity 
and dissipation. 

In such circumstances, the Christian character 
of Mrs. Graham wns strongly marked. Sensible 
that her heavenly P^^ther saw it good, at this time, 
to depress her outvrard condition, full of filial ten- 
derness, and like a real child of God, resigned to 
whatever should appear to be his will, her con- 
duct conformed to his dispensations. With a 
cheerful heart, and in the hope of faith, she set 
herself to walk down into the valley of humiha- 
tion, ' leaning upon Jesus,' as the beloved of her 
soul. ' I delight to do thy will. Oh, my God, yea, 
thy law is within my heart,' was the spontaneous 
effusion of her genuine faith. She received, with 
affection, the scriptural admonition, ' Humble 
yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of 
God, that he may exalt you in due time : casting 
all your care upon him ; for he careth for you.' 

She laid aside her children's fine frocks, and 
clothed them in homespun. At Cartside, she sold 
the butter she made, and her children were fed 



26 THE LIFE OP 

on the milk. It was her wish to eat her own 
bread, however coarse, and ' to owe no person 
any thin^ but love,' At Paisley, for a season, her 
breakfast and supper was porridge, and her din- 
ner potatoes and salt. Peace with God, and a 
contented mind, supplied the lack of earthly pros- 
perity, and she adverted to this her humble fare, 
to comfort the hearts of suffering sisters, with whom 
she corresponded at a latter period of life, when 
in comfortable circumstances. 

Meantime the Lord was not unmindful of his 
believing child ; but was preparing the minds of 
her friends for introducing her to a more enlarged 
sphere of usefulness. 

Her pious and attached friend, Mrs. Major 
Brown, had accompanied her husband to Scotland, 
and they now resided on their estate in Ayrshire. 
Mr. Peter Reid, a kind friend when in Antigua, 
was now a merchant in London. This gentle- 
man advised her to invest the little money she had 
brought home, (and which she had still preserv- 
ed,) in muslins ; which she could work into finer 
articles of dress ; and he would ship them in a 
vessel of his own, freight free, to be sold in the 
West Indies. His object w^as partly to increase 
her little caipital, and partly to divert her mind 
from meditating so deeply on the loss of her la- 
mented husband. 

She shed so many tears while at Cartside, as to 
injure her eye-sight, and to render the use ot 
spectacles necessary ; she adopted his plan ; the 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. 27 

muslin dresses were shipped ; but she soon after- 
wards learned that the ship was captured by the 
French. This was a severe blow to her tempo- 
ral property, and more deeply felt, as it was re- 
ceived at the time when her father was deprived 
of his office. 

Mrs Brown, after consulting with the Rev. Mr 
Randell, of Glasgow ; the Rev, Mr. Ellis, of Pais- 
ley ; Lady Glenorchy and Mrs. Walker, of Edin- 
burgh : proposed to Mrs. Graham to take charge 
of a boarding school in the metropolis. 

The friends of religion were of opinion, that 
such an establishment, under the direction of such 
a character as Mrs. Graham, would be of singular 
benefit to young ladies, destined for important 
stations in society. Her liberal education, her ac- 
quaintance with life, and her humble, yet ardent 
piety, were considered peculiarly calculated to 
qualify her for so important a trust. 

Another friend had suggested to Mrs. Graham 
the propriety of opening a boarding house in Edin- 
burgh, which he thought could, through his influ- 
ence, be easily filled by students. 

She saw obstacles to both ; a boarding house 
did not appear suitable, as her daughters would 
not be so likely to have the same advantages of edu- 
cation as from a boarding school. To engage as 
an instructress of youth on so large a scale, with 
so many competitors, appeared for her, an arduous 
undertaking. 

In this perplexity, as in former trials, she fled to 



« THE LIFE OF 

her unerring Counsellor, the Lord, her covenant 
God. She set apart a day for fasting and prayer. 
She spread her case before the Lord, earnestly 
beseeching him to make his word ' a light to her 
feet, and a lamp to her path;' and 'to lead her in 
the way in which she should go;' especially, that 
she might be directed to choose the path, in which 
she could best promote his glory, and the best in- 
terests of herself and her children. On searching 
the scriptures, her mind fastened on these words, 
in John xxi. 15. ' Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou 
me more than these ? He saith unto him. Yea, 
Lord; thou knowest that 1 love thee. He saith 
unto him. Feed my lambs.' 

Never, perhaps, was this commandment applied 
with more energy, nor accompanied with a richer 
blessing since the days of the apostle, than in the 
present instance. 

Her determination was accordingly made. She 
resolved to undertake the education of youth, 
trusting that her Lord would make her an humble 
instrument to feed his lambs. Here was exhibited 
an instance of simple, yet powerful faith in a believ- 
er, surrounded by temporal perplexities ; and of 
condescension and mercy on the part of a compas- 
sionate God. Light, unseen by mortal eyes, 
descended on her path. 

How weak, perhaps enthusiastic, would this 
have appeared to the busy crowd, blind to the 
special providence exercised by the God of hea- 
ven towards all his creatures. 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. 29 

When the assembled universe shall at the great 
day of judgment be called around the throne of 
the Judge of the whole earth, sudb conduct will 
then appear to have been wise, judicious, and effi- 
cient ; but to the eye of carnal reason, absorbed in 
the devices and calculations of worldly wisdom to 
attain prosperity, it now appears delusive and un- 
availing. There are some passages in Miss Han- 
nah Moore Practical Piety, on the suflferings of 
good men, peculiarly apphcable to the faith, 
exercises, and conduct of Mrs. Graham, at this 
season of her difficulty and deprivation. She felt 
the pressure of her affliction ; but, like the Psalmist, 
she gave herself unto prayer, realizing in a mea- 
sure the poet's description : 

" Prayer ardent opens heav'n, lets down a stream 
Of glory on the consecrated hour 
Of man in audience with the Deity." 

Although her faith was strong, yet her mind 
was under such agitation, from her total want of 
funds to carry her plan into effect, and from other 
conflicting exercises, as to throw her into a nervous 
fever, which kept her confined to her bed for some 
weeks. On her recovery, she felt it her duty to 
^o J or ward, trusting that He who had directed 
her path would provide the means that were neces- 
sary to enable her to walk in it : she sold her 
heavy furniture, packed up all her remaining 
effects, and prepared to set out from Paisley for 
Edinburgh, on a Monday, sometfef e in the year 
1780. 



30 THE LIFE OP 

On the Saturday previous, she sat by her fire, mu- 
sing, and wondering in what manner the Lord 
would appear for her at this time, when a letter 
was brought to her from Mr. Peter Reid, enclosing 
a sum of money which he had recovered from the 
underwriters, on account of Mrs. Graham's mus- 
lins, captured on their passage to the West Indies. 
Mrs. Graham had considered them as totally lost, 
but her friend had taken the precaution to have 
them insured. 

With this supply, she was enabled to accompHsh 
her object, and arrived in Edinburgh with her 
family. Her friend, Mrs. Brown, met her there, 
and stayed with her a few days, to comfort and 
patronize her in her new undertaking. Mrs. Brown 
washer warm and constant friend, until her death, 
which happened at Paisley in 1782, when she was 
attending the communion. She bequeathed her 
daughter Mary to Mrs. Graham's care. But in 
1785, the daughter followed the mother, being cut 
ofif by a fever in the twelfth year of her age. 

It may be proper here to introduce the name of 
Mr. George Anderson, a merchant in Glasgow, 
who had been an early and particular friend of 
Dr. Graham. He kindly offered his friendly ser- 
vices, and the use of his purse, to promote the wel- 
fare of the bereaved family of his friend. Mrs. 
Graham occasionally drew upon both. The money 
she borrowed, she had the satisfaction of repaying 
with interest. 

A correspondence was carried on between them 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. 31 

after Mrs. Graham's removal to America, until the 
death of Mr. Anderson in 1802. Such was the 
acknowledged integity of this gentleman, that he 
was very generally known in Glasgow by the ap- 
pellation of " honest George Anderson." 

During her residence in Edinburgh, she was 
honored with the friendship and counsel of many 
persons of distinction and piety. The Viscountess 
Glenorchy ; Lady Ross Baillie ; Lady Jane Bel- 
ches; Mrs. Walter Scott, (mother of the poet ;) 
Mrs. Dr. Davidson ; Mrs. Baillie Walker, were 
amongst her warm and personal friends. The 
Rev. Dr. Erskine, and Dr. Davidson, (formerly 
the Rev. Mr. Randall of Glasgow,) and many re- 
spectable clergymen, were also her friends. She 
and her family attended on the ministry of Dr. 
Davidson, an able, evangelical, useful pastor. 

Her school soon became respectable in numbers 
and character. Her early and superior education 
now proved of essential service to her. She was 
indefatigable in her attention to the instruction of 
her pupils. While she was faithful in giving them 
those accomplishments which were to quahfy 
them for acting a distinguished part in this 
world, she was also zealous in directing their 
attention to that Gospel, by which they were in- 
structed to obtain an inheritance in the eternal 
world. She felt a high responsibility, and took 
a deep interest in their temporal and spiritual 
welfare. As ' a mother in Israel,' she wished to 
train them up in the ways of the Lord. 



32 THE LIFE OP 

She prayed with them morning and evening ; 
and on the Sabbath, which she was careful to de- 
vote to its proper use, she took great pains to imbue 
their minds with the truths of rehgion. Nor did 
she labor in vain. Although she was often heard 
to lament of how little use she had been, compared 
v/ith her opportunities of doing good, yet when 
her children, Blr. and Mrs. B — , visited Scotland 
in 1801, they heard of many characters, then pious 
and exemplary, who dated their first religious im- 
pressions from those seasons of early instruction 
which they enjoyed under Mrs, Graham, while 
in Edinburgh, 

Mrs. Graham's manner in the management of 
youth, was peculiarly happy. Whilst she kept 
them diligent in their studies, and strictly obe- 
dient to the laws she had established, she was 
endeared to them by her tenderness ; and the 
young ladies instructed in her school, retained for 
her in after life a degree of filial affection, which 
showed itself unequivocally wherever opportuni- 
ties offered to test it. This was afterwards remark- 
ably the case with her pupils in America. Her 
little republic was completely governed by a 
system of equitable laws. On every alledged 
offence, a court-martial, as they termed it, was held, 
and the accused tried by her peers. There was 
no arbitrary punishments, no sallies of capricious 
passion. The laws were promulgated, and must 
be obeyed. The sentences of the courts-martial 
were always approved, and had a salutary effect 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. 33 

In short, there was a combination of authority, 
decision, and tenderness, in Mrs. Graham's go- 
vernment, that rendered its subjects industrious, 
intelligent, circumspect, and happy. She enjoy- 
ed their happiness ; and in cases of sickness, she 
watched her patients with unremitting solicitude 
and care, sparing no expense to promote their re- 
storation to health. 

A strong trait in her character was distinctly 
marked by one rule she had adopted, viz : to edu- 
cate the daughters of pious ministers at half price. 
This was setting an example worthy of imitation. 
It was a conduct conformable to scriptural precept. 
Said Paul, ' If we have sown unto you spiritual 
things, it is a great thing if we shall reap your 
carnal things ! Do ye not know that they which 
minister about holy things live of the things of the 
temple ? Even so hath the Lord ordained that they 
which preach the gospel should live by the gospel.' 

Always conscientious in obeying the command- 
ment of her God, she observed them in this matter, 
giving in her proportion, at least the widow's 
mite. 

By another plan (for she was ingenious in con- 
trivances to do good,) she greatly assisted their 
slender circumstances, especially such as were of 
the household of faith. Believing that the use of 
sums of ten, fifteen, or twenty pounds in hand, 
would be serviceable by way of capital to persons 
in a moderate business, she was in the habit of 
making such advances, and taking back the value 
3 



34 THE LIFE OF 

in articles they had for sale. She charged no 
interest, being amply repaid in the luxury of her 
own feelings, Avhen she beheld the benefit it pro- 
duced to her humble friends. The board of her 
pupils being paid in advance, she was enabled to 
adopt this plan with more facility. Were her 
spirit more prevalent in the world, what good 
might be done ! The heart would be expanded, 
reciprocal confidence and affection cherished ; and 
instead of beholding worms of the dust, fighting 
for particles of yellow sand, we should behold 
a company of affectionate brethren, leaning upon, 
and assisting each other through the wilderness 
of this world. Look not every man on his own 
things,' said Paul, ^but every man also on the things 
of others. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so 
fulfil the law of Christ.' 

On the subject of promoting the external ac- 
complishments of her scholars, it became a question 
of importance how far Mrs. Graham was to coun- 
tenance them in their attendance on public balls 
— to what length it was proper for her to go, so 
as to meet the received opinion of the world in 
these concerns. She consulted with her pious 
friends, and wrote to Lady Glenorchy on the sub- 
ject. Her ladyship's letter in reply is so excellent, 
that it is given at full length, with Mrs. Graham's 
letters, and will consequently be found in her pub- 
lications. In after life, Mrs. Graham was of opin- 
ion that she and her scholars had gone too far in 
conformity with the opinions and manners of the 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. 35 

world. A reference to this deviation from what 
she considered a close Christian walk in life, will 
be frequently found in her subsequent exercises ; 
the tenderness of her own conscience, however, 
often made her speak of her departure from a 
strictly religious course, with more severity than 
it really deserved, considering the delicacy of her 
situation, as an instructress over the children of 
parents, who probably were averse from restrain- 
ing their children so much in the style of their 
education, as might better have suited Mrs. 
Graham's views of a christian circumspection, 
and abstraction from worldly amusements and 
pursuits. 

It was customary with Lady Glenorchy to re- 
mark, that two of Mrs. Graham's friends held a 
band around her waist, when she approached the 
boundaries between religion and the world, to 
prevent her from falling over. 

Lady Glenorchy being in a delicate state of 
health, made frequent use of Mrs. Graham as her 
almoner to the poor. On one of these visits, Mrs. 
Graham called on a poor woman, with a present 
of a new gown. " I am obliged to you and her 
ladyship for your kindness," said the poor woman, 
rich in faith ; " but I maun gang to the right airth 
first, ye wad na hae come, gin ye had na been 
sent ; the Lord hath left me lately wi but ae goon 
for week day and sabbath, but now he has sent you 
wi' a sabbalh-day's goon." Meaning, in plain 
English, that her thankfulness was first due to the 



86 THE LIFE OP 

God of providence, who had put it into the heart 
of his children to supply the wants of this poor 
disciple. 

Mrs. Graham used to repeat with pleasure an 
anecdote of her friends, Mr. and Mrs. Douglas. 
Mr. Douglas was a tallow-chandler, and furnished 
candles for Lady Glenorchy's chapel. The ex- 
cise tax was very high on making those articles, 
and many persons of the trade were accustomed 
to defraud the revenue by one stratagem or 
another. Rehgious principle would not permit 
Mr. Douglas to do so. Mrs. Graham one evening 
w^as remarking how handsomely the chapel was 
lighted. " Aye, Mrs Graham," said Mrs. Doug- 
las, " and it is all pure — the light is all pure, it 
burns bright." It would be well if Christians of 
every trade and profession were to act in like 
manner ; that the merchant should have no hand 
in covering property, or encouraging perjury, to 
accumulate gains ; that the man of great wealth 
should have neither usury, nor the shedding of 
blood by privateering, to corrode his treasures ; 
that all should observe a just weight and a just 
measure in their deahngs as in the presence of 
God. Let every Christian seek after the consola- 
tion of Mrs. Douglas, that the light which re- 
freshes him may be pure. 

It being stated as matter of regret, that poor 
people, when sick, suffered greatly, although 
while in health their daily labor supported them ; 
Mrs. Graham suggested the idea of every poor 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. 37 

person in the neighborhood laying aside one penny 
a week, to form a fund for relieving the contribu- 
tors when in sickness. Mr. Douglas undertook 
the formation of such an institution. It went for a 
long time under the name of " The Penny Socie- 
ty." It afterwards received a more liberal pa- 
tronage has now a handsome capital, and is 
called " The Society for the Relief of the Desti- 
tute Sick." 

In July, 1786, Mrs. Graham attended the dying 
bed of her friend and patroness. Lady Glenorchy : 
this lady had shown her friendship in a variety 
of ways during her valuable life ; she had one of 
Mrs. Graham's daughters for some time in her 
family ; condescended herself to instruct her, and 
sent her for a year to a French boarding school 
at Rotterdam. She defrayed all her expenses 
while there, and furnished her with a liberal sup- 
ply of pocket money, that she might not see dis- 
tress without the power of relieving it. So much 
does a person's conduct in maturer years depend 
upon the habits of early life, that it is wise to ac- 
custom young people to feel for, and to contribute 
in their degree to the relief of the afflicted and the 
needy. 

Lady Glenorchy was a character in whom was 
eminently displayed the power of rehgion. De- 
scended from an ancient family, married to the 
eldest son of the Earl of Broadalbaine, beautiful 
and accomplished, she was received into the first 
circles of society. With her husband she made 



38 THE XIFE OF 

the tour of Europe, visiting the several courts on 
that continent. Yet all these things she ' counted 
but loss fof the excellency of the knowledge of 
Christ Jesus her Lord.' She became a widow 
whilst yet in the bloom of youth. She devoted 
herself to the service of the Lord, and was made 
singularly useful. She kept a regular account of 
her income, and of the different objects to which 
it was applied. She built and supported several 
chapels in England ; and erected one in Edin- 
burgh, in which pious ministers of different deno- 
minations should be admitted to preach. 

She also built a manufactory for the employ- 
ment of the poor, where the education of children 
was strictly attended to : even the porter's lodges 
on each side of her gate were occupied as schools 
for the neighboring poor. Her pleasure-grounds 
were thrown open for the accommodation of the 
numbers who usually come from a distance to at- 
tend a communion season in Scotland. In a year 
of scarcity the same grounds were planted with po- 
tatoes for the supply of the poor. She distributed 
with great judgment various sums of money in 
aid of families who were poor, yet deserving. She 
never encouraged idleness or pride, and often re- 
marked that it was better to assist people to do 
well in the sphere which Providence had assigned 
them, than to attempt to raise them beyond it. 
There was so much wisdom in the active applica- 
tion of her benevolent charities, as to render them 
both efficient and extensive. She seldom was seen 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. 89 

in these works of benificence ; her object was to 
do good : the gratitude of those on whom she be- 
stowed benefits, was no part of her motive, or 
even of her calculation. What she did, she did 
unto God, and in obedience to his commands: her 
faith and hope were in God. 

She contributed largely to the public spirited 
institutions established at Edinburgh in her day. 
One or two of the most useful she was the first to 
suggest the idea of, always accompanying her 
recommendation with a handsome donation in 
money to encourage the work. 

The venerable Society for the Promotion of 
Christian Knowledge and Piety, shared largely 
her patronage ; and, at her death, she bequeath- 
ed them five thousand pounds. 

She indulged the hope of seeing a union of 
exertion amongst all Christian denominations, for 
sending the Gospel to the Heathen. How de- 
lighted would she have been with the Mission- 
ary Societies of London and elsewhere, had her 
hfe been spared to behold their extensive opera- 
tions ! 

She sold her estate of Barnton, that she might 
apply the money to a more disinterested object 
than her personal accommodation,and that her for- 
tune might be expended with her life. " I recol- 
lect here," said Saurin in one of his sermons, " an 
epitaph said to be engraven on the tomb of Atolus 
of Rheims : He exported his fortune before him 
into heaven by his charities — he is g-one thither 
to 671 joy it J*'* 



40 THE LIFE OP 

This might be truly said of Lady Glenorchy. 
In her manner she discovered great dignity of 
character tempered with the meekness and be- 
nevolence of the Gospel. Her family w^as ar- 
ranged with much economy, and a strict regard 
to moral and rehgious habits. She usually sup- 
ported some promising and pious young minister 
as her chaplain, which served him as an introduc- 
tion to respectability in the church. With very 
few exceptions, all those who entered her family 
as servants were in the process of time brought 
under religious impressions. So far it pleased 
the Lord to honor her pious endeavors to render 
her family one of the dwellings of the God of 
Jacob. 

She carried on an extensive correspondence with 
the agents of her charities in various places, as 
well as with characters in the highest walks of 
life. The late celebrated William Pitt, whom 
she had known when a boy, was pleased with 
her letters, and replied in the most respectful 
terms to the counsel which she at times had given 
him, on the higher concerns of his spiritual and 
eternal welfare. 

It is much to be desired that some suitable bio- 
graphical account of this valuable lady should be 
prepared for the benefit of the public, and the 
gratification of her numerous friends. 

Mrs. Graham had the honor of attending the 
death-bed, and of closing the eyes of this distin- 
guished child of God. It had been Lady Gle- 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. 41 

norchy's express desire that Mrs. Graham should 
be sent for to attend her dying bed, if within 
twenty miles of her when such attendance should 
be necessary. 

When Dr. Witherspoon visited Scotland in the 
year 1785, he had frequent conversations with 
Mrs. Graham, on the subject of her removal to 
America. She gave him at this time some reason 
to calculate on her going thither as soon as her 
children should have completed the course of 
education she had purposed for them. 

Mrs. Graham had entertained a strong partiality 
for America ever since her former residence there, 
and had indulged a secret expectation of returning 
thither. 

It was her opinion, and that of many pious peo- 
ple, that America was the country where the 
Church of Christ would eventually flourish. She 
was therefore desirous to leave her offspring 
there. 

After some correspondence with Dr. Wither- 
spoon, and consultation with pious friends, she re- 
ceived the approbation of the latter to her plan. She 
had an invitation from many respectable charac- 
ters in the city of New York, with assurances of 
patronage and support. She arranged her affairs 
for quitting Edinburgh. The Algerines being 
then at war with the United States, her friends 
insisted on her chartering a small British vessel 
to carry herself and family to the port of New 
York. This increased her expenses ; but Provi- 



42 THE LIFE OF 

dence, in faithfulness and mercy, sent her at this 
time a remittance from Dr. Henderson ; and a 
legacy of two hundred pounds bequeathed her by 
Lady Glenorchy as a mark of her regard, was 
of great use to her in her present circumstances. 

Thus in the month of July, 1789, Mrs. Graham 
once more prepared to go into a land which the 
Lord seemed to tell her of; and after a pleasant, 
though tedious voyage, she landed in New York 
on the 8th day of September. 

At New York she and her family were received 
with the greatest cordiality and confidence. The 
late Rev. Dr. Rodgers and Dr. Mason were espe- 
cially kind to her. She came eminently prepared 
to instruct her pupils in all the higher branches of 
female education : the favorable change effected 
by her exertions in this respect, was soon visible 
in the minds, manners, and accomplishments of 
the young ladies committed to her care. She 
opened her school on the 5th of October, 1789, 
with five scholars, and before the end of the same 
month, the number increased to "fifty. She not 
only imparted knowledge to her pupils, but also, 
by her conversation and example, prepared their 
minds to receive it in such a manner as to apply 
it to practical advantage. Whilst she taught them 
to regard external accomphshments as ornaments 
to the female character, she was careful to recom- 
mend the practice of virtue as the highest accom- 
plishment of all, and to inculcate the principles of 
religion as the only solid foundation for morality 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. 43 

and virtue. The annual examinations of her scho- 
lars were always well attended, and gave great 
satisfaction. General Washington, whilst at New 
York, honored her with his patronage. The 
venerable and amiable Bishop of the Episcopal 
Church in the State of New York, then the Rev. 
Dr. Benjamin Moore, never once was absent from 
those examinations. She was sensible of his 
friendship, and always spoke of him in terms of 
great esteem and respect. 

She united in communion with the Presby- 
terian Church under the pastoral care of the late 
Rev. Dr. John Mason. This excellent man was 
her faithful friend, and wise counsellor. Under 
his ministry her two daughters, Joanna and Isa- 
bella, joined the church in the year 1791. Her 
eldest daughter Jessie, who had made a profession 
of religion in Scotland, was married in July, 1790, 
to Mr. Hay Stevenson, merchant of New York, 
and she became a member of the Presbyterian 
Church under the care of Dr. Rodgers, where 
her husband attended. 

In the year 1791, her son, who had been left in 
Scotland to complete his education, paid his mo 
ther a visit. Mrs. Graham, considering herself as 
inadequate to the proper management of a boy, 
had at an early period of his life sent her son to the 
care of a friend, who had promised to pay due 
attention to his morals and education. The boy 
had a warm affectionate heart, but possessed, a<" 
the same time, a bold and fearless spirit. Such a 



44 THE LIFE OP 

disposition, under proper management, might 
have been formed into a noble character ; but he 
was neglected, and left in a great measure to him- 
self by his first preceptor. 

For two years of his life, he was under the care 
of Mr. Murray, teacher of an academy at Aber- 
corn. He was a man truly qualified for this sta- 
tion. He instructed his pupils with zeal ; led 
even their amusements ; and, to an exemplary 
piety, added the faithful counsel of a friend. He 
loved, and was therefore beloved. Under his 
superintendence, John Graham improved rapidly, 
and gained the affections of his teacher and com- 
panions. Happy for him had he continued in such a 
suitable situation. He was removed to Edinburgh 
to receive a more classical education. Being left 
there by his mother and sisters, the impetuosity of 
his temper, and a propensity for a sea-faring life, 
induced his friends to place him as an apprentice 
in the merchant-service. He was shipwrecked on 
the coast of Holland, and Mr. Gibson of Rotter- 
dam, a friend of Mrs, Graham, took him to his 
house, and enabled him to come to the United 
States. He remained at New York for some 
months. His mother deemed it his duty to return 
to Scotland to complete his time of service. His 
inclination tended evidently to the profession of a 
sailor; she therefore fitted him out handsomely, 
and he embarked for Greenock in the same ship 
with Mr. John M. Mason, the only son of the late 
Dr. Mason, who went to attend the theological 
lectures at Divinity Hall, in Edinburgh. 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. 46 

Mrs. Graham's exercises of mind on parting 
with her son, were deep and affecting. She cast 
him upon the covenant mercy of her God, placing 
a blank, as to temporal things, in her Lord's hand, 
but holding on with a fervent faith and hope to 
the promise of spiritual life, ' Leave thy fatherless 
children, I will preserve them alive ; and let thy 
widows trust in me,' 

Three months afterwards, she learned that a 
press-gang had boarded the ship in which her son 
had been, and although he was saved from their 
grasp by a stratagem of the passengers, yet all his 
clothes were taken away from him. Reflecting on 
this event, she says, " shall I withdraw the blank I 
have put into the Redeemer's hands'? has he not 
hitherto done all things well ? have not my own 
afflictions been my greatest blessing 1 Lord, I renew 
my blank." After undergoing many sufferings, 
this young man wrote to his mother from Dema- 
rara, in the year 1794, that he had been made a 
prisoner ; had been retaken ; and then intended 
to go to Europe with a fleet which was socn to sail 
under convoy. His letter was couched in terms 
of salutary reflection on his past hfe, and a hope to 
profiting by past experience. This was the last 
account which Mrs. Graham had of her afflicted 
son. All inquiries instituted respecting him pro- 
ved fruitless, and she had to exercise faith and sub- 
mission, not without hope toward God, that the 
great Redeemer had taken care of, and would 
finally save, this prodigal son. She had known a 



^ THE LIFE OP 

casern her father's family which excited their soli- 
citude, and encouraged her hope. Her younger 
brother, Archibald Marshall, a lad of high temper, 
though possessed of an affectionate heart, had 
gone to sea, and was not heard of at all for seve- 
ral years. A pious woman who kept a boarding 
house in Paisley, found one of her boarders one day 
reading Doddridge's Rise and Progress of Religion 
in the Soul of Man, with Archibald Marshall's 
name written on the blank leaf. On inquiry, the 
stranger told her that he got that book from a 
young man on his death-bed, as a token of regard. 
That young man was Archibald Marshall — he was 
an exemplary Christian ; " and I have reason," 
added he, "to bless God that he ever was my 
messmate." The woman, who heard this account, 
transmitted it to Mr. Marshall's family, who were 
known to her. Mrs. Graham had no such conso- 
latory account afforded to her ; but under much 
yearning of heart, she left this concern as well as 
every other, to the disposal of that God ' who 
doeth all things well.' 

In the spring of 1792, she and her family were 
called to a severe trial, by the translation of their 
beloved pastor. Dr. Mason, to a better world. A 
few months before his decease, whilst preaching 
to his people, his recollection failed him, his ser- 
mon was gone from his mind, and he sat down in 
his pulpit unable to proceed. After a short pause, 
he arose and addressed his people in a pious and 
affectionate strain : he considered this event as a 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. 47 

call from his heavenly Master to expect a speedy 
dismission from the tabernacle of clay ; and so- 
lemnly admonished them also to be prepared for 
the will of God. His people, who loved him, 
were affected to tears. An illness soon followed, 
which terminated in the death of the body. He 
parted on the night when Mrs. Graham took her 
turn of watching with him. He breathed his last 
with his head upon her lap. This she always ac- 
counted a privilege and honor bestowed upon her 
by her divine Master. Great was the grief of Dr. 
Mason's congregation on his loss. In him, to 
great learning were united meekness, prudence, 
diligence, and knowledge of the world, and an 
affectionate superintendence of the interests, spi- 
ritual and temporal, of his flock. He so arranged 
his avocations and studies in regard to time, that 
he had always a few hours in the afternoon to 
devote to visiting the families of his congregation. 
So regular was the order he observed in his ar- 
rangement of time, that Mrs. Graham and her 
family knew when to calculate on seeing him, 
and always expected him with the anticipation of 
profit and pleasure. Once every week they were 
sure of seeing him, if in health. His visits were 
short,his conversation serious, awakening, instruct- 
ive, and affectionate. He inquired about their 
temporal affairs, and in cases of difficulty, he al- 
ways gave them his best advice. His counsels 
were salutary ; his knowledge of the world, and 
his discrimination of characters, rendered him well 



48 THE LIFE OP 

qualified to advise. In one of his visits to Mrs 
Graham, she mentioned to him the want of good 
servants as the greatest trial of the time, " Mrs. 
Graham," said he, " have you ever prayed to the 
Lord to provide good servants for you ? Nothing 
which interests our comfort is too minute for the 
care of our Heavenly Father." 

To one of her daughters, who felt a strong in- 
clination to profess her faith in Christ by joining 
the communion of his church, but yet was afraid 
that her heart was not sufficiently engaged for the 
service of God, Dr. Mason proposed the following 
question. " If," said he, " the world with all its 
wealth, pleasures, and power, were placed in one 
scale, and Christ alone in the other, which would 
your heart freely choose as a portion ! On her 
replying there would be no hesitation as to her 
choice of Christ, he gave her encouragement to 
profess her faith, although it might not at present 
amount to the full assurance of hope. 

He was indeed a faithful shepherd of his flock ; 
and his people mourned for him as for an affec- 
tionate father. It is much to be desired that his 
example were more followed by Christian pastors. 
To preach with eloquence and acceptance, is a 
talent of great value in a minister of the Gospel : 
this makes him respected ; and his congregation 
admire him, because, for one reason, they are 
proud of him : but to gain their affections ; to 
make a congregation the children of an aged pas- 
tor, or the friends and brethren of a younger one, 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. 49 

let the minister visit the families of his people : 
this will seal on their hearts the regard which 
their understandings had already dictated. 

Very few ministers have been more remarkable 
for a strict attention to this duty than the late Dr. 
Tohn Mason,and his venerable and attached friend, 
the late Dr. John Rodgers. When the former 
died, the latter exclaimed, "I feel as if I had lost a 
right arm !" They who once labored together 
to promote the cause of the Redeemer on earth, 
are now singing his praises before the throne of 
the Eternal. 

The congregation, bereaved of their pastor, 
wrote immediately to his son, Mr. John Mitchell 
Mason, to hasten his return from Edinburgh to 
New York. 

After preaching to them with great acceptance 
for several months, he was ordained as pastor of 
the Church, in April, 1792. 

Mrs. Graham entertained for him the most af- 
fectionate attachment ; and this attachment was 
reciprocal. 

Thus it pleased God to repair the breach he 
had made, and to build up this Church by the in- 
strumentality of the son, when he removed the 
father to that ' rest which remaineth for the peo- 
ple of God.' 

In July, 1795, Mrs. Graham's second daughter, 
Joanna, was married to Mr. Divie Bethune, mer- 
chant in New York. In the following month, her 
eldest daughter, Mrs. Stevenson, was seized with 



50 THE LIFE OF 

a fatal illness. Of a most amiable disposition and 
genuine piety, she viewed the approach of death 
with the composure of a Christian and the intrepi- 
dity of faith. 

She had been in delicate health for some years 
before, and now a complication of disorders de- 
nied all hope of recovery. She sung a hymn ot 
triumph, until the struggles of death interrupted 
her. Mrs. Graham displayed great firmness of 
mind during the last trying scene, and when the 
spirit of her daughter fled, the mother raised her 
hands, and looking towards heaven, exclaimed, 
"I wish you joy, my darling." She then washed 
her face, took some refreshment, and retired to 
rest. 

Such was her joy and faith at the full salvation 
of her child ; but when the loss of her company 
was felt, the tenderness of a mother's heart after- 
wards gave vent to feelings of affectionate sorrow: 
nature will feel, even when faith triumphs. 

Mrs. Graham made it a rule to appropriate a 
tenth part of her earnings to be expended for pious 
and charitable purposes : she had taken a lease of 
two lots of ground on Greenwich street from the 
corporation of Trinity Church, with a view of 
building a house on them for her own accommoda- 
tion : the building, however, she never com- 
menced : by a sale which her son, Mr. Bethune, 
made of the lease in 1795 for her, she got an ad- 
vance of one thousand pounds. So large a profit 
was new to her. ** Quick, quicki" said she, •* let 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. 6t 

me appropriate the tenth before my heart grows 
hard." What fidelity in duty ! what distrust of 
herself! Fifty pounds of this money she sent to 
Mr Mason in aid of the funds he was collecting for 
the establishment of a Theological Seminary. 

In the year 1797, a society was instituted at 
New York, for the relief of poor widows with 
small children ; a society which rose into great 
respectability, and has been productive of very 
beneficent effects. The Lord, in his merciful 
providence, prepared this institution to grant re- 
lief to the many bereaved families, who were left 
widows and orphans by the ravages of the yellow 
fever in the year 1798. 

It took its rise from an apparently adventitious 
circumstance. Mr. B — , in the 3'ear 1796, was one 
of the distributing managers of the St. Andrew's 
course limited to a certain description of applicants. 
Society. The distribution of this charity was of 
Mrs. B — , interested for widows not entitled to 
share in the bounty of the St. Andrew's Society, 
frequently collected small sums for their relief. 
She consulted with a few friends on the propriety 
of establishing a Female Society for the Relief of 
Poor Widows with small children, without limita- 
tion. Invitations, in the form of circular letters, 
were sent to the ladies of New York ; and a very 
respectable number assembled at the house of 
Mrs. Graham. The proposed plan was approved, 
and a society organized. Mrs. Graham was elect- 
ed First Directress, which office she held for ten 
years. 



82 THE LIFE OP 

At the semi-annual meeting in March, 1798, Mrs. 
Graham made a very pleasing report of the pro- 
ceedings of the managers, and of the amount of 
rehef afforded to the poor. The ladies of New- 
York rendered themselves truly deserving of 
applause for their zeal m this benevolent under- 
taking. 

In the month of September, 1798, Mrs* Graham's 
daughter Isabella, was married to Mr. Andrew 
Smith, merchant, of New York, (now of Rich- 
mond, Virginia). Her family being thus settled 
to her satisfaction, she was prevailed upon to re- 
tire from business, and to live with her children. 

Miss Farquh arson, her assistant, to whom she 
was much attached, declined to succeed her, choos- 
ing rather to enjoy the society of her patroness 
and friend. She was a young lady of genuine 
piety and worth. The Lord had designed her 
for another important station. She is now Mrs. 
Loveless, of Madras ; the help-meet of the London 
Society's excellent Missionary there. Mrs. Gra- 
ham maintained a correspondence with Love- 
less, and always regarded her with much affec- 
tion. 

During the prevalence of the yellow fever in 
1798, it was with much difficulty Mrs. Graham 
was dissuaded from going into the city to attend 
on the sick: the fear of involving her children in 
the same calamity, in the event of her being at- 
tacked by the fever, was the chief reason of her 
acquiescing in their wish to prevent so hazardous 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. 63 

an undertaking. During the subsequent winter, 
she was indefatigable in her attentions to the poor : 
she exerted herself to procure work for her wi- 
dows, and occupied much of her time in cutting it 
out, and preparing it for them. The managers 
of the Widows' Society had each their separate 
districts; and Mrs. Graham, as First Directress, 
had a general superintendence of the whole. She 
was so happy in the execution of her trust, as to 
acquire the respect and confidence of the ladies 
who acted with her, as well as the ajQfections of 
the poor. 

Her whole time was now at her command, and 
she devoted it very faithfully to promote the be- 
nevolent object of the Institution over which she 
presided. The extent of her exertions, however, 
became known, not from the information given by 
herself, but from the observations of her fellow 
laborers, and especially from the testimony of the 
poor themselves. 

In the summer of 1800, she paid a visit to her 
friends in Boston. When she had been absent for 
some weeks, her daughter, Mrs. B — ,was surprised 
at the frequent inquiries made after her, by per- 
sons with whom she was unacquainted : at length 
she asked some of those inquirers what they knew 
about Mrs. Graham? They replied, " we live in 
the suburbs of the cit}', where she used to visit, 
relieve, and comfort the poor. We had missed her 
so long, that we were afraid she had been sick : 
when she walked in our streets, it was customary 



64 THE LIFE OP 

with us to come to the door and bless her as she 
passed." 

Until January, 1803, she lived alternately with 
her children, Mrs. Bethune, and Mrs. Smith ; at 
this period, Mrs. Smith having removed from New 
York, Mrs. Graham resided with Mr, and Mrs. 
Bethune, until her departure to a better world. 
They loved her, not only from natural affection, 
but for her superior worth : they valued her, for 
they believed that many blessings were vouch- 
safed to them and their family in answer to 
her prayers. 

The Society for the Relief of Poor Widows with 
small children, having received a charter of incor- 
poration, and some pecuniary aid from the legis- 
lature of the state, the ladies who constituted the 
Board of Direction, were engaged in plans for ex- 
tending their usefulness : Mrs, Graham took an 
active part in executing these plans. The society 
purchased a small house, where they received 
work of various kinds, for the employment of their 
widows. They opened a school for the instruc- 
tion of their orphans, and many of Mrs. Graham's 
former pupils volunteered their services, taking 
upon themselves by rotation, the part of instructors. 
Besides establishing this school, Mrs. Graham se- 
lected some of the widows, best qualified for the 
task, and engaged them for a small compen- 
sation, to open day schools for the instruction 
of the children of widows, in distant parts oi 
the city: she also established two Sabbath 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. 55 

schools, one of which she superintended herself, 
and the other she placed under the care of her 
daughter. Wherever she met with Christians sick 
and in poverty, she visited and comforted them ; 
and in some instances opened small subscription 
lists to provide for their support. 

She attended occasionally for some years at the 
Alms House for the instruction of the children 
there, in religious knowledge : in this work she 
was much assisted by an humble and pious female 
friend, who was seldom absent from it on the 
Lord's day. In short, her whole time was occu- 
pied in searching out the distresses of the poor, 
and devising measures to comfort and establish 
them to the extent of her influence and means. At 
the same time, far from arrogating any merit to 
herself, she seemed always to feel how much she 
was deficient in following fully the precepts, and 
the footsteps of her beloved Lord and Saviour, 
' who went about doing good." 

It was often her custom to leave home after break- 
fast, to take with her a few rolls of bread, and re- 
turn in the evening about eight o'clock. Her only 
dinner on such days was her bread, and perhaps 
some soup at the Soup House estabhshed by the 
Humane Society for the poor, over which one of 
her widows had been, at her recommendation, ap- 
pointed. She and her venerable companion, Mrs. 
Sarah Hoffman, Second Directress of the Widows' 
Society, travelled many a day, and many a step 
together, in the walks of charity. Mrs. Graham 



M THE LIFE OF 

was a Presbyterian, Mrs. Hoffman an Episcopa- 
lian. Those barriers, of which such a thundering 
use has been made by sectarians to separate the 
children of God, fell down between these two 
friends at the cry of affliction, and were consumed 
on the altar of Christian love. Arm in arm, and 
heart to heart, they visited the abodes of distress, 
dispensing temporal aid from the purse of charity, 
and spiritual comfort from the word of life. One 
has already entered into rest ; the other must short- 
ly follow. Amidst many comforts, and many 
afflictions, the lite of Mrs. Hoffman has been a life 
of faith and resignation ; her end will be peace ; 
and then she will join her beloved and attach- 
ed friend, in singing the praises of that Divine 
Redeemer, whose footsteps on earth they humbly 
endeavored in his strength to follow. ' Blessed 
are the dead which die in the Lord ; yea, saith 
the Spirit, for they rest from their labors, and 
their works do follow them.' 

At each annual meeting, Mrs. Graham usually 
made an address to the society, with a report of 
the proceedings of the managers through the pre- 
ceding year. In April, 1800, she stated that 
"again the pestilence had evacuated the city; 
again every source of industry was dried up ; even 
the streams of benevolence from the country fail- 
ed. Those storehouses from which relief was is- 
sued to thousands in former calamities, now disap- 
pointed their hopes, and those spared by the pes- 
tilence were ready to perish by the famine Such 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM 57 

widows as had no friends in the country under 
whose roof they might for a time seek shelter, 
were shut up to the only relief within their power, 
even to that society which had formerly saved 
them in many a straight. They came, were re- 
ceived with tenderness, assisted with food, advice, 
and medicine. Four of the society^s board, at 
the risk of their lives, remained in the city, steady 
in the exercise of their office. One hundred and 
forty-two widows, with four hundred and six chil- 
dren, under twelve years of age, by far the 
greater part under six, have, from time to time, 
during the winter, been visited and relieved. 
Widow is a word of sorrow in the best of circum- 
stances ; but a widow left poor, destitute, friend- 
less, surrounded with a number of small children, 
shivering with cold, pale with want, looking in 
her face with eyes pleading for bread which she 
has not to give, nor any probable prospect of pro- 
curing : her situation is neither to be described, 
nor conceived. Many such scenes were witnessed 
during the last winter ; and though none could 
restore the father, and the husband, the hearts of 
the mourners were soothed by the managers : 
whilst they dispensed the relief provided for them 
by their Father, and their Husband, God." 

In her address for the year 1804, she says, " In 
April last, it was reported that there were on the 
managers' books two hundred and one widows 
with numerous families of small ch ildren. Of this 
number, five had been ill all winter, several had 



18 THE LIFE OP 

had severe fits of illness, and forty-six were 
women of broken constitutions; who, could it be 
afforded, would require assistance all summer. 
At the last anniversary, we reported that Mrs. 
Hoffman and myself had visited twenty-seven new 
made widows ; previous to the meeting, young", 
healthy, nice women. Of these women, few had 
been accustomed to do more than make, mend, 
wash, and cook for their husbands and families. 
Oh, how changed the scene ! Ye blessed agents 
of their Father, God ; ye managers, who have 
supplied their want, and soothed their spirits, ye 
can tell — and their pale visages and dejected 
countenances witness to the truthof your report. 
That such evils exist, is painful to humanity ; but 
since they do exist, can there be a more deli- 
cate pleasure than to be instrumental in alle- 
viating them ? Seven years has this society been 
the darHng of providence. From a feeble plant, it 
is become a large tree with spreading branches, 
under which many find shelter and sustenance." 

The winter of 1804—5, was unusually severe : 
the river Hudson was shut by frost as early as 
November; fuel was consequently scarce and 
dear; and the poor suffered greatly. Mrs. Gra- 
ham visited those parts of the city where the 
poorer class of sufferers dwelt ;* in upwards of 

*The following notice of these scenes appeared in one of 
the peifiodical publications of the day. 

WHEN sorrow shrunk before the piercing wind, 
And famine* shelterless, in suffering pin'd ; 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. N 

When sickness droop'd in solitary pain, 
Mid varying misery's relentless reign ; 
Oh then, tumultuous rose the plaints of grief, 
And loud and strong the clamors for relief ! 
Then active charity with bounteous care, 
From gloomy faces chas'd the fiend, Despair; 
Dispell'd the horrors of the wintry day, 
And none that asked went unreliev'd away. 

Yet there are some, who sorrow's vigils keep, 
Unknown that languish— undistinguish'd weep ! 
Behold yon ruin'd building's shattered walls. 
Where drifting snow through many a crevice falls ; 
Whose smokeless vent no blazing fuel knows— 
But drear, and cold, the widow's mansion shows. 
Her fragile form, by sickness deeply riven, 
Too weak to face the driving blasts of heaven, 
Her voice too faint to reach some pitying ear, 
Her shivering babes command her anguish'd tear : 
Th^ir feeble cries, in vain, assistance crave, 
And expectation 'points but to— the grave.' 

But lo, with hasty step, a female form 
Glides through the wind, and braves the chilling storm, 
With eager hand now shakes the tottering door. 
Now rushes breathless o'er the snow-clad floor. 
Her tongue soft comfort to the mourner speaks, 
Her silver voice with soft emotion breaks ; 
Round the drear hovel roves her moistened eye. 
Her graceful bosom heaves the lengthened sigh. 

I know thee now— I know that angel frame— 
O that the muse might dare to breathe thy name ! 
Nor thine alone, but all that sister-band, 
Who scatters gladness o'er a weeping land : 
Who comfort to the infant sufferer bring, 
And ' teach with joy the widow's heart to sing.' 

For this no noisy honors fame shall give- 
In your own breasts your gentle virtues live ; 
No sounding numbers shall your names reveal. 
But your owa hearts the rich inward shall feel. 

ALBERT* 



60 THE LIFE OF 

two hundred families, she either found a bible 
their property, or gave them one ; praying with 
them in their affliction. She requested a friend 
to write, first one religious tract, and then 
another, suited to the peculiar situation of those 
afflicted people. One was called " A Donation 
to Poor Widows with Small Children," the other, 
" A Second Visit to Poor Widows with Small 
Children." And lest it might be said, it was 
cheap to give advice, she usually gave a small 
sum of money along with the tracts she distributed. 
There was at this time neither a Bible nor Tract 
Society in New York. Mrs. Hofifman accompa- 
nied her in many of her excursions. In the course 
of their visits, they discovered a French family 
from St. Domingo in such extremity of distres-o, as 
made them judge it necessary to report their case 
to the Honorable Dewitt Clinton, then Mayor of 
the city. The situation of this family being made 
public, three hundred dollars were voluntarily 
contributed for their relief. Roused by this inci- 
dent, a public meeting was called at the Tontine 
Coffee-House, and committees from the different 
wards were appointed to aid the Corporation, in 
ascertaining and supplying the immediate wants 
of the suffering poor. The zeal of Mrs. Graham 
and Mrs. Hoffman paved the way for this 
public-spirited exertion, which, probably, was 
the means ot saving the lives of some of the desti- 
tute and friendless. 
In the month of August, 1805, Mrs. Graham 



Ml^S. ISABELLA GRAHAM. m 

paid another visit to her friends in Boston, and 
spoke of them with much affection and esteem. 
She used to mention, with peculiar approbation, a 
society of pious ladies there, who met once in every 
week, for prayer and mutual edification. 

On the 15th of March, 1806, the female subscri- 
bers to proposals for providing an asylum for or- 
phan children, met at the City Hotel ; Mrs. Gra- 
ham was called to the chair^ a society organized, 
and a Board of Direction chosen. Mrs. Hoffman 
was elected the First Directress of the Orphan 
Asylum Society. Mrs. Graham continued in the 
office of First Directress of the Widows' Society, 
but took a deep interest in the success of the 
Orphan Asylum Society also : she, or one of her 
family, taught the orphans daily, until the funds 
of the Institution were sufficient to provide a teach- 
er and superintendent. She was a trustee at the 
time of her decease. The wish to establish this 
new society, was occasioned by the pain which 
it gave the ladies of the Widows' Society to be- 
hold a family of orphans, driven, on the decease 
of -a widow, to seek refuge in the Alms House ; 
iio melting heart to feel, no redeeming hand to 
rescue them from a situation so unpromising for 
mental and moral improvement. 

"Amongst the afflicted of our suffering race," thus 
speaks the constitution of the society, "none makes 
a stronger or more impressive appeal to humanity, 
than the destitute orphan. Crime has not been 
the cause of its misery, and future usefulness may 



62 THE LIFE OF 

yet be the result of its protection ; the reverse is- 
offen the case of more aged objects. God him- 
self has marked the fatherless, as the peculiar sub- 
jects of his divine compassion. ' A Father of the fa- 
therless, is God in his holy habitation.' ' When my 
father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord 
will take me up.' To be the blessed instrument 
of Divine Providence in making good the promise 
of God, is a privilege equally desirable and ho- 
norable to the benevolent heart." 

And truly God has made good his promise to- 
wards this benevolent institution. He has crown- 
ed the undertaking with his remarkable blessing. 
It was begun by his disciples in faith, and he has 
acknowledged them in it. Having for fourteen, 
months occupied a hired house for an asylum,- 
the ladies entertained the bold idea of building 
an asylum on account of the society. They had 
then about three hundred and fifty dollars, as the 
commencement of a fund for the building : they 
purchased four lots of ground in the- village of 
Greenwich, on a healthful elevated site, possess- 
ing a fine prospect. The corner stone was laid 
on the 7th of July, 1807. They erected a build- 
ing fifty feet square, planned for the accommoda- 
tion of two hundred orphans. From time to time 
they proceeded to finish the interior of the building, 
and to purchase additional ground, as their 
funds would permit; and such has been the liber- 
ality of the legislature and of the public, that the 
society now possess a handsome building, and 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. 63 

•nearly an acre of ground, all of which must have 
cost them little short of twenty-five thousand dol- 
lars. This property is clear, the last shilling due 
upon it having been lately paid off^, Their success 
furnishes strong encouragement to attempt great 
and good objects, even with slender means. God 
in his providence will command a blessing on ex- 
ertions of this character. It is too common a mis- 
take, and one fatal to the progress of improvement, 
that great means should be in actual possession be- 
fore great objects should be attempted. Ah, were 
our dependence simply on apparent instruments, 
how small must be our hopes of success ! There 
is a mystery, yet a certainty, in the manner by 
which God is pleased in his providence to con- 
duct feeble means to a happy conclusion. Has 
he not preserved, cherished, and blessed his 
church through many ages, amidst overwhelming 
persecutions, and that often by means apparently 
inadequate to this end ? We must work for, as 
well as pray for, the blessings which God has 
promised to bestow on our sinful race. We 
must put our shoulder to the wheel, whilst we look 
up to heaven for assistance, and God will always 
bless those who are found in the path of duty. 
The Orphan Asylum Society is a striking proof of 
this ; they have now one hundred orphans under 
their care, and have placed more than one hun- 
dred children in eligible situations, after educa- 
ting them ; many of the latter promise to be 
useful to society. If a child be fatherless. 



64 THE LIFE OF 

motnerless, and of legitimate birth, it is welcome ta 
their Asylum. The children are clothed, fed, and 
instructed. There is a well-regulated school on 
the Lancasterian plan, in a room fifty feet long, 
within the building : there are excellent printed 
regulations established for the management of the 
orphans : they enjoy religious instruction, and are 
under the care of a man and his wife, both pious 
characters : the latter are superintendents under 
the direction of the board of ladies, one of whom 
is appointed a weekly visiter at each monthly 
meeting of the trustees. 

One only death has occurred amongst the 
orphans, since the commencement of the institu* 
tion, excepting in cases where they came into the 
Asylum sick ; and of such there have been but 
few. The ladies have set no limits to the number 
to be received : and it has pleased God also not 
to set limits to the means necessary for their sup- 
port. The institution is a great favorite with the 
public, and is usually visited by strangers, vf ho are 
delighted with the cleanhness, health, and cheer- 
ful countenances of the orphans. 

The society have received a charter of incor- 
poration from the legislature ; they have a hand- 
some seal, with this inscription : inasmuch as ye 

HAVE DONE IT UNTO ONE OF THE LEAST OF THESE, 
YE HAVE DONE IT UNTO ME. 

For several years it was customary with Mrs. 
Graham to visit the hospital. Before the erection 
©f the very valuable wing of that edifice adapted 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. 6& 

to the reception of deranged persons, and now 
called " the Lunatic Asylum," she paid a particu- 
lar attention to patients of this description. 

One instance is fresh in the recollection of the 
writer of this sketch. A French gentleman of for- 
tune in St Domingo, through the fidelity of one of 
his slaves, escaped the general massacre of the 
white people in his neighborhood by the blacks in 
1793. Warned by this faithful informer, he fled with 
his mother, sister, and younger brother, on board 
of a French vessel, whilst they were pursued to the 
beach. They had saved and carried with them 
some of their jewels; but on their voyage the ves- 
sel was captured by a British privateer, and 
carried to Bermuda, From thence they sail- 
ed in an American vessel for New-York ; but 
on their passage they were plundered by a French 
privateer. From these cruel depredations they 
saved but a slender amount of property for 
their support in a strange land. This gentleman 
now improved those accomplishments which his 
education had bestow^ed, as means of providing a 
subsistence for himself and his dependant relatives. 
He became a teacher of dancing. In the year 
1797, he returned to St. Domingo, and received 
a commission in the British army, then masters of 
the place. Having recovered a part of his pro- 
perty, he sold his commission, and prepared to re- 
turn to New York, with a prospect of rendering 
his family comfortable. On the day previous to 
embarking, • he fell among thieves,' and received 
5 



66 THE LIFE OF 

a wound which no Samaritan could cure. A set 
of gamblers robbed him by card-playing, of all the 
money in his possession ; his distress and remorse 
of conscience were too strong for his mind to bear, 
and he became a maniac. In this state he reach- 
ed New York. He refused to go to the Hospital 
until Mrs. Graham led him there. She had long 
befriended him and his family : he always listened 
respectfully to her requests, and she visited him 
often. Let the rest of his tale be told. He es- 
caped from the Hospital, wandered to the south- 
ward, and was heard of no more. The remaining 
part of his family, after the peace of Amiens, 
returned to St. Domingo, where General Le Clerc 
had led a French army, and afterwards, there is 
every reason to fear, were destroyed by Christo- 
phe, along with many more unhappy victims of 
the same description. 

Oh slavery ! thou bitter draught ! the oppress- 
or's chain becomes, at length, the murderous steel 
sharply and secretly whetted by the oppress- 
ed ! Then there is confusion and every evil work. 
And what shall be said of gambling? There cun- 
ning, malice, rage, and madness, mingle their 
horrible expressions. 

To the apartments appropriated to sick female 
convicts in the State Prison, Mrs. Graham made 
many visits. She met with some affecting circum- 
stances among this class. 

In the winter 1807—8, when the suspension of 
commerce by the embargo, rendered the situation 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. 67 

of the poor more destitute than ever, Mrs. Gra- 
ham adopted a plan best calculated in her view 
to detect the idle applicant for charity, and at the 
same time to furnish employment for the more 
worthy amongst the female poor. She purchased 
flax, and lent wheels, where applicants had none. 
Such as were industrious, took the work with 
thankfulness, and were paid for it; those who 
were beggars by profession never kept their 
word to return for the flax or the wheel. The flax 
thus spun, was afterwards wove, bleached, and 
made into table-cloths and towels for family use. 

Mrs. Graham used to remark, that until some 
institution should be formed to furnish employ- 
ment for industrious poor women, the work of 
charity would be incomplete. It was about this 
time, that deeming the duties too laborious for her 
health, she resigned the office of First Directress 
of the Widows' Society, and took the place of a 
manager. She afterwards declined this also, and 
became a trustee of the Orphan Asylum Society, 
as more suited to her advanced period of life. 

Tbe delicate state of health to which one of her 
grand-daughters was reduced in 1808, made it ne- 
cessary for her to spend the summer season for 
five successive years at Rockaway, for the advan- 
tage of sea-bathing. Mrs. Graham went with her, 
it being beneficial to her own health also. In this 
place, she met with many strangers : the compa- 
ny residing there, treated her with much affection 
and respect. She always attended to the wor- 



68 THE LIFE OP 

ship of God morning and evening in her room, 
and was usually accompanied by some of the 
ladies who boarded in the house. Her fund of in- 
formation, vivacity of manner, and the interest 
which she felt in the happiness of all around her, 
made her society highly valued and pleasing. 
Few of those ladies who stayed with her at Rock- 
away, for any length of time, failed to express, at 
parting, their esteem for her, and they generally 
added a pressing invitation for a visit from her, ii 
ever she should travel near where they dwelt. 

In the year 1810, whilst bathing, she was carried 
by the surf beyond her depth, and for some time 
there was scarcely a hope of her regaining the 
shore. Her grand-children were weeping on the 
beach, and the company assembled there were 
afflicted but hopeless spectators of her danger. At 
that moment of peril, she prayed to the Lord 
for deliverance, but acquiesced in his will, if he 
should see fit to take her to himself in this manner. 
Able to swim a little, she kept herself afloat for 
some time : she became at length very faint ; and 
when her friends on the beach apprended her lost, 
they perceived that the waves had impelled her 
somewhat nearer to them. A gentleman present, 
and her female attendant, stepped into the surf, and 
extending their arms for mutual support, one of 
them was enabled to lay hold of Mrs. Graham's 
bathing gown, and to pull her towards them. When 
they brought her ashore, she was much exhausted, 
.and had swallowed a considerable quantity of 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. «9 

water. It was some hours before she revived, 
when she addressed the company in a very serious 
and impressive manner, that affected them to 
tears. Her health during the following winter 
was much impaired by the shock it had received. 
In the year 1811, some gentlemen of New York 
established a Magdalen Society : they elected a 
Board of Ladies, requesting their aid to superin- 
tend the internal management of the Magdalen 
House. This board chose Mrs. Graham their pre- 
siding lady, which office she held until her de- 
cease ; the duties attendant on it she discharged 
with fidelity and zeal. In 1812, the trustees of 
the Lancasterian School solicited the attendance 
of several pious ladies, to give catechetical instruc- 
tion to their scholars, one afternoon in every week': 
Mrs. Graham was one of those who attended regu- 
larly to this duty. 

During the last two years of her life she found her 
strength inadequate to so extensive a course of visit- 
ing the poor as formerly ; there was some distress- 
ed families, however, that experienced her kind 
attention to the last. She would occasionally ac- 
company the Rev. Mr. Stanford on his visits to the 
State Prison, Hospital, and to the Magdalen House. 
This gentleman is the stated preacher, employed 
by " the Society for the support of the Gospel 
among the poor," He devotes his time to preach- 
ing in the Alms House, Hospital, State Prison, 
Debtor's Prison, &c. with great assiduity and ac- 
ceptance. Mrs. Graham now spent much of her 



TO THE LIFE OF 

time in her room, devoted to meditation, prayer, 
and reading the Scriptures; she seemed to be 
weaning from earth, and preparing for heaven. 
Prayer w^as that sweet breath of her soul which 
brought stability to her life. Genuine humility 
was obvious in all her sentiments and deportment. 
Religious friends prized her conversation, coun- 
sel, and friendship ; sometimes they would venture 
on a compliment to her superior attainments, but 
always experienced a decided rebuke. To her 
friend. Colonel L — , who expressed a wish to be 
such a character as she was, she quickly replied, 
with an air of mingled pleasantry and censure, 
" Get thee behind me, Satan." To a female friend 
who said, "If I were only sure at last of being 
admitted to a place at your feet, I should feel hap- 
py." " Hush, hush," replied Mrs. Graham, •* there 
is ONE SAVIOUR." Thus she was always 
careful to give her Divine Redeemer the whole 
glory of her salvation. 

This example of humility, self-denial, and sen- 
sibility to the imperfection of her conduct, is the 
more to be valued, as it is so difficult to be follow- 
ed. Flattery is too commonly practised ; and 
there is no sufficient guard against its danger- 
ous consequences, except a constant and hum- 
bling recognition of the spirituality of the law of 
God : and our lamentable deficiency in fulfilling 
it. Pride was not made for man ; ' I have seen an 
end of all perfection,' said the Psalmist, ' but thy 
commandment is exceeding broad.' It was by 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. Tl 

cherishing: this sentiment, by studying her bible, 
by searching her heart and its motives, and, above 
all, by grace accorded of heaven in answer to 
her prayers , that Mrs. Graham wsls enabled to 
maintain such a meekness of spirit, such an uni- 
formity of Christian character, throughout her life. 
May all who read her history, be directed to 
the same sources of true peace and genuine hap- 
piness I 

In the spring of 1814 she was requested to unite 
with some ladies, in forming a Society for the Pro- 
motion of Industry amongst the Poor. As this was 
the last act in which she appeared before the pub- 
lic, and because some acquaintance with the design 
of this Institution may prove useful in exciting 
others to similar exertions, the petition sent to 
the Corporation of New York will be given here 
at full length, as it appeared in the publications of 
the Society, 

To the Honorable the Mayor and Common Council of 
the city of New York. 
" We, whose names are subscribed, beg leave respect- 
fully to address you, on a subject which has engaged our 
attention. Notwithstanding the large amount of money 
expended by private benevolence for the relief of the indi- 
gent, it is a cause of regret that such relief is of so limit- 
ed a character ; cast as it were into a troubled sea, it sinks 
to rise no more. Could a fair proportion of the money in- 
definitely expended on the poor, be placed under the care 
of an institution, which should use it to stimulate industry, 
by providing work for the indigent, paying them only for 
tbdr labor ; that proportion would be directed to the most 



n THE LIFE OF 

beneficent purpose. S uch a course would encourage indus 
trious habitSj do away the necessity of beggingj and foster 
self respect in the honest poor. 

" Such an Institution, we trust, your Honorable Body 
will deem worthy of public patronage ; we are willing and 
desirous to support it by our personal exertions, according 
to a plan w^hich we now respectfully submit to your exam- 
ination. A House of Industry forms a principal feature of 
this plan. Should your Honorable Body so far patronize 
uSj as to assign us a building for that purpose, we shall 
commence the work, trusting to the benevolence and dis 
cernment of our citizens. 

" The admonition of holy writ, ' much food is as the til- 
lage of the poor, but there is that is destroyed for want of 
judgment,' we feel as a strong incitement to render the in- 
dustry of the poor useful to themselves and to the commu- 
nity. Without the aid now respectfully solicited, the 
attempt would on our part be hazardous and efficient. 
Our zeal to promote an Institution, having this object in 
view, must be our excuse for addressing ourselves to the 
guardians and rulers of the city." 

This petition was signed by about Thirty Ladies. 

The Corporation having returned a favorable 
answ^er, and provided a house, a meeting of the 
society was held, and Mrs. Graham once more 
was called to the chair. It was the last time 
she was to preside at the formation of a new so- 
ciety. Her articulation, once strong and clear, 
was now observed to have become more feeble. 
The ladies present listened to her with afifection ate 
attention ; her voice broke upon the ear as a plea- 
sant sound that was passing away. She consent- 
ed to have her name inserted in the list of mana- 
gers, to give what assistance her age would per- 
mit iH^ibrwaiding so beneficent a work* Although 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. 73 

it pleased God to make her cease from her labors^ 
before the House of Industry was opened, yet the" 
work was carried on by others, and prospered. 
Between four and five hundred women were em- 
ployed and paid during the following winter* 
The Corporation declared in strong terms their 
approbation of the result, and enlarged their do- 
nation, with a view to promote the same undertak- 
ing for the succeeding winter. 

In the month of May 1814, a report was receiv- 
ed from Mr. S. P — , of Bristol, in England, of the 
Society for establishing Adult Schools. Mrs. Gra- 
ham was so delighted with a perusal of if, as im- 
mediately to undertake the formation of such a 
school in the village of Greenwhich. She called 
on the young people who were at work in some 
neighboring manufactories, and requested them io 
attend her for this purpose every Sabbath morning 
at eight o'clock. This was kept up after her de- 
cease, as a Sunday School, and consisted of nearly 
eighty scholars. She was translated from this 
work of faith on earth, to engage in the sublimei* 
tvork of praise in heaven. 

For some weeks previous to her last illness, she 
was favored with unusual health, and much enjoy- 
ment of religion: she appeared to have sweet ex- 
ercises and communion in attending on all God's 
ordinances and appointed means of grace. 

She was greatly refreshed in spirit by the suc- 
cess of Missionary and Bible Societies. She used 
' to speak with much aflfection of Mr. Gordon, Mi"^ 



ft THE UFE OP 

Lee, and Mr. May, with whom she had been ac» 
quainted when in New York, on their way to 
missionary stations in India. For Mr. Robert 
Morrison, whom she had seen in 1807, on his way 
to China, she entertained a very high regard. She 
was much pleased with the solid talents, ardent 
piety, and persevering zeal which she discerned 
in his character. 

Mrs. Graham was very partial tt> the works of 
Dr. John Owen, the Rev. William Romaine, and 
John Newton, and read them with pleasure and 
profit. One day she remarked to Mr. B — , that 
she preferred the ancient writers on Theology to 
the modern, because they dealt more in Italics. 
** Dear mother," he replied, " what religion can 
there be in italics ?" *' You know," said she, 
*' that old writers expected credit for the doctrines 
they taught, by proving them from the word of 
God, to be correct : they inserted the scripture 
passages in Italics, and their works have been 
sometimes one half in Italics. Modern writers on 
Theology,' on the contrary, give us a long train 
of reasoning, to persuade us to their opinions, 
but very little in Italics." This remark of her's 
has great force, and may be worthy of sober re- 
flection by those who write, and those who read 
on theological subjects. 

On the two Sabbath days preceding her illness 
she partook of the communion, and was conse- 
quently much engaged in religious exercises. 
The last meditation she ever wrote, was on Sab- 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. n 

bath afternoon the 17th of Jwly^ 1 814 ; it closes with 
the following lines : ** I ate the bread, and drank 
the wine, in the faith that I ^te the flesh, and 
drank the blood of the Son of Man, and dwelt in 
him and he in me ; took a close view of my fami- 
liar friend death, accompanied with the presence 
of my Saviour ; his sensible presence. I cannot 
look at it without this. It is my only petitiion con- 
cerning it. I have had desires and wishes of cer* 
tain circumstances, hut they are nearly gone. It 
is my sincere desire that God may be glorified j 
and He knows best how, and by what circum- 
stances. I retain my one petition : 

" Only to me thy countenance show, 
I ask no more the Jordan through.'* 

Thus she arose from her Master's tabk^ was 
called to gird vn her armor for ^ combat with 
the King of Terrors, and came off morje than con- 
querer through Him who loved her. 

On Tuesday, the 19th of July, she complained 
of not feeling well, and kept her room ; on Thurs- 
day her disorder proved to be a cholera morbus, 
and her children sent for a physician. She said 
this attack was slighter than on former seasons. 
On Saturday, however, she requested that Mrs. 
Chrystie might be sent for ; this alarmed Mrs. 
B — , knowing there existed an understanding 
between those two friends, that one should attend 
the dying bed of the other : Mrs. Chrystie was a 
very dear friend of Mrs. Graham. For upwards 
1^ twenty-four years they had loved each ether. 



I 



76 THE LIFE OP 

feeling reciprocal sympathy in their joys and their 
sorrows : the hope of faith was the consolation of 
both, and oftentimes it had been their dehghtful 
employment to interchange their expressions of afi- 
fection tow^ards Him, ' whom having not seen, 
they loved, and in whom, though they saw him 
not, yet believing on him, they rejoiced with joy 
unspeakable and full of glory.' On Mrs. Chrys- 
tie^s entering the chamber o^ her friend, Mrs. 
Graham welcomed her with a sweet expressive 
smile, seeming to say, -^ 1 am going tp get the 
start of you, I am called home before you ; it will 
be your office to fulfil our engagement." When 
she sat by her bedside, Mrs, Graham said, " your 
face is very pleasant to me, my friend," During 
Saturday night a lethargy appeared to be over- 
powering her fi ame. On Sabbath njorning she was 
disposed to constant slumber ; observing Mr. B— , 
looking at her with agitation, she was roused from 
her heaviness,and stretching her arms towards him, 
and embracing him, she said, *- jny dear, dear son, 
I am going to leave you, I am going to my Sa- 
viour," ^' I know," he replied, " that when you 
do go from us, it will be to the Saviour ; but my 
dear mother, it may not be the Lord's time now 
to call you to himself." ^' Yes," said she, " now is 
the time, and Oh ! I could weep for sin," Her 
words were accompanied with her tears. " Have 
you any doubts then, my dear friend ?" asked 
Mrs, Chrystie. '' Oh no" replied Mrs. Graham : 
and looking at Mr. and Mrs, B— , as they wept. 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. 7T 

** my dear children, I have no more doubt of going 
to my Saviour, then if I were already in his arms ; 
my guilt is all transferred ; he has cancelled all I 
owed. Yet I could weep for sins against so good 
a God : it seems to me as if there must be weep- 
ing even in heaven for sin.' After this, she entered 
into conversation with her friends, mentioning por- 
tions of Scripture, and favorite hymns which had 
been subjects of much comfortable exercise of 
mind to her. Some of these she had transcribed in- 
to a little book, calling them her victuals prepared 
for crossing over Jordan : she committed them to 
memory, and often called them to remembrance^ 
as her songs in the nighty when sleep had desert- 
ed her. She then got Mr. B— to read to her some 
of these portions, especially the eighty-second 
hymn of the third book of Newton's hymns, 
beginning thus : 

Let us love, and sing, and wonder « 

Let us praise the Saviour's name ! 
He has hush'd the la\y'.s lo^d thunder; 

He has quench'd Mount Sinai's flame ; 
He has wash'dus with his Wood j 
He has brought us nigh to God. 

Mrs. Graham then fell asleep, nor did she awaken 
until the voice of the Rev. Dr. Mason roused her. 
They had a very affectionate interview, which he 
has partly described in the excellent sermon he 
delivered after her decease. She expressed to 
him her hope, as founded altogether on the re- 
demption that is in Jesus Christ. Were she left 
(o depend on the merit of the best action she ha4 



f 3 THE LIFE OP 

fiver performed, that would be only a source of 
despair. She repeated to him, as her view of sal? 
vation, the fourth verse of the hymn already 
quoted : 

Let us wonder, grace and justice 

Join, and point at mercy's store ; 
When thro' grace in Christ our trust is, 
Justice smiles, and asks no more : 
He who wash'd us with his blood 
Has secur'd our way to God. 

Having asked Dr. Mason to pray with her, ha 
inquired if there was any particular request she 
Jiad to make of God, by him ; she replied, that 
God would direct : then as he kneeled, she put 
up her hands, and raising her eyes towards hear 
ven, breathed this short, but expressive petition, 
^^ Lord, lead thy servant in prayer." 

After Dr. Mason had taken his leave, she again 
fell into a deep sleep. Her physicians still ex- 
pressed a hope of her recovery as her pulse was 
regular, and the violence of her disease had 
abated^ One of them, however, declared his 
ppinion, that his poor drugs would prove of lit? 
tie avail against her own ardent prayers to depart 
and be with Christ, which was far better for her 
jthen a return to a dying world. 

On Monday the Rev. Mr. Rowan prayed with 
her, and to him she expressed also the tranquiUity 
of her mind, and the steadfastness of her hope, 
jthrough Christ, of eternal felicity. 

Her lethargy increased ; at intervals from sleep, 
she would occasionally assure her daughter, Mrs, 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. W 

B — , that all was well : and when she could rouse 
herself only to say one word at a time, that one 
word, accompanied with a smile, was " Peace." 
From her, there was a peculiar emphasis in this 
expression of the state of her mind ; ' Peace I 
leave with you, my peace I give unto you,' had 
been a favorite portion of scripture with her, and 
a promise, the fulfilment of which was her ear 
nest prayer to the God who made it. She also 
occasionally asked Mr. B — to pray with her, even 
when she could only articulate, as she looked a* 
him, " Pray." She was now surrounded by 
many of her dear Christian friends, who watched 
fier dying-bed with affection and solicitude. On 
Tuesday afternoon she slept with Httle intermis- 
sion. This, said Dr. Mason, may be truly called 
' falling asleep in Jesus." It was remarked by 
ihose who attended her, that all terror was taken 
away, and that death seemed here as an entrance 
into life. Her countenance was placid, and look- 
ied younger than before her illness 

At a quarter past twelve o'clock, being the 
morning of the 27th of July, 1814, without a strug- 
gle or a groan, her spirit winged its flight from a 
mansion of clay to the realms of glory, whilst 
around the precious remnant of earth, her family 
and friends stood weeping, yet elevated by the 
scene they were witnessing. After a silence of 
many mmutes, ihey kneeled by her bed, adored 
the goodness and the grace of God towards his de- 
parted child, and implored the divine blessing on 



80 THE UFE OF 

both the branches of her family, as well as on all 
the Israel of God. 

Thus she departed in peace, not trusting in her 
wisdom or virtue, hke the philosophers of Greece 
and Rome ; not even like Addison, calling on the 
profligate to see a good man die ; but like How- 
ard, afraid that her good works might have a 
wrong place in the estimate of her hope, her chief 
glory was that of " a sinner saved by grace."* 

Afer such examples, who will dare to charge 
the doctrines of the cross of Christ with licentious- 
ness? Here were too instances of persons, to 
whose good works the world have cheerfully 
borne testimony, who lived and died in the profes- 
sion of these doctrines. It was faith that first pu- 
rified their hearts, and so the stream of action from 
these fountains became pure also. Had not Christ 
died, and risen again, all the powers of man could 
never have produced such lives of benevolence, 
nor a death so full of contrition, yet so embalmed 
with hope. * Hallelujah : unto Him who loved 
us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 
and hath made us kings and priests unto God and 
his Father : to him be glory and dominion for 
ever and ever. Amen,'^ 

Mrs. Graham's death created a strong sensation 
in the public mind. Several clergymen of New 
York made this event the subject of their discourses; 
and in the annual reports of many charitable in- 
stitutions, an aflfectionate tribute of respect was 

*TbiB was Howard's epitaph, dictated by himaelf* 



MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. 81 

paid to her memory. Two of the chief magistrates 
of the city, said to Mr. B — , that they considered 
the death of Mrs. Graham as a public loss. The 
Rev. Dr. Mason was requested to preach a serrnor) 
on this occasion. How ably he executed this trust, 
is well known to the public. The hymn she quoted 
jto him was sung after the sermon,* 

At the weekly prayer meeting which she usually 
attended, the circumstances of her death were 
made subjects of improvement, On the 16th of 
July she was a worshipper with her brethren and 
sisters there^ and on the evening of the SOth, they 
were called to coiisider her by faith as in the im» 
mediate presence of her God, among ' the spirits 
of the just made perfect.' 

The services of that evening were closed with 
a hymn from Dobell's collection, which being de-^ 
scriptive of her happy change, shall be given here 
at length, ias a proper conclusion of this imperfect 
sketch of her life. 

'Tis finish'd ! the conflict is past, 

The heav'n bom spirit is fled ; 

. Her wish is accomplish'd at last, 

And now she's entomb'd with the dead. 

The months of affliction are o'er, 
The days and the nights of distress, 

We see her in anguish no more- 
She's gained her happy release. 

* The perusal of this sermon has already led to the es- 
tablishment of two respectable Orphan Societies, and of 
one Adult School in the United States. 
6 



§2 THE LIFE OF MRS. ISABELLA GRAHAM. 

No sickness, or sorrow, or pain^ 

Shall ever disquiet her now ; 
For death to her spirit was gain, 

Since Christ was her life when below, 
lier soul has now taken its flight 

To mansions of glory above> 
To mingle with angels of light, 

And dwell in the kingdom of love. 
The victory now is obtain'd ; 

She's gone her dear Saviour to see ; 
Her wishes she fully has gain'd— 

She is now where she longed to be. 
The cofl^n, the shroud, and the gravCi 

To her were no objects of dread 5 
On Him who is mighty to save, 

Her soul was with confidence stay'd. 
Then let us forbear to complain, 

That she is now gone from our sight ; 
We soon shall behold her again. 

With new and redoubled delight, 



DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. 

Edinburgh^ March^ 1789, 
Jeremiah xlix. 11. 
The Lord's promise, which he made to me in 
the days of my widowhood, and which I have 
made the subject of my prayers from day to day, 
taking the words in a spiritual sense ; the Lord 
has done wonders for me and mine, since the day 
I was left a widow with three orphans, and the 
fourth not born, in a strange land, without money, 
at a distance from friends; or rather, without 
friends. Hitherto he has supplied all my wants, 
and laid to hand every necessary, and many 
comforts; supporting character and credit ; mak- 
ing way for me through the wilderness, pointing 
out my path, and settling the bounds of my habi- 
tation. 

For alf these blessings, I desire to be thankful 
and grateful to the God of providence, whose is 
the earth, and the fulness thereof: but these I 
cannot take as the substance of the promise ; nei- 
ther have they been the matter of my prayers. 
The salvation and the life I have wrestled for, is 
that which Christ died to purchase, and lives to 
bestow ; even spiritual life, and salvation from sin. 
My God knows 1 have held fast this view of the 
words, seeking first the kingdom of God for my 
children, leaving temporals to be given or virith- 
held, as may best suit with the conversion and sane* 



m DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. 

tification of their souls. I have not asked for thera 
health, beauty, riches, honors, nor temporal life ; 
God knows what share of these consists with their 
better interests ; let him give or withhold accord- 
ingly. One thing I have asked of the Lord, one 
thing only, and will persist in asking, and will 
hang upon him for, trust in him for, and for which 
I think I have his promise, even the life of their^ 
and my souL 1 Thes. v. 23, is my petition for me 
and mine^ 24th my anchor of hope, preceded by 
Jeremiah xlix, II* 

Edinburgh^ March^ll^ 1789. 

This day, from the head of his own table, did 
the Lord by his servant, Mr. R — , proclaim his 
name the I AM, and called on me to write under 
what I would, for time and eternity. My soul 
rejoices that God is, and that he is what he is ; no- 
thing less than himself can content me, nothing 
more do I desire* 

This great I AM is my portion — what can I ask 
bieside ? He hath opened my eyes to see his excel- 
lency : he hath determined my will, to choose 
him for my portion. He hath arranged, and set 
in order, a rich testament sealed by the blood of 
his own Son, containing every blessing for time 
and for eternity. All my heart's desire is there 
promised, and faith given to believe there shall be 
a full performance. What have I to say then, 
but Amen, do as thou hast said 1 Father, glorify 
thy name* Thou hast said, * then will I sprinkle 



DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. 85 

clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean ; 
from all your filthiness, and from all your idols 
will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give 
you, and a new spirit will I put within you ; and 
I will take a way the stony heart out of your flesh ; 
and I will give you an heart of flesh ; and I will 
put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk 
in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments 
and do them, and ye shall dwell in the land that I 
gave to your fathers ; and ye shall be my people, 
and I will be your God.' Amen, Lord do as 
thou hast said. Behold, I take hold of thy cove- 
nant for myself and for my children. It is well 
ordered in all things, and it is sure. My heart ac- 
cords to every part of it. Wilt thou guide us by 
thy counsel while we live, and afterwards receive 
us to thy glory 1 Amen, and amen — do as thou 
hast said. 

New York, May 20, 1791. 
This day my only son left me in bitter 
wringings of heart : he is again launched on the 
ocean: God's ocean. The Lord saved him from 
shipwreck, bade the waves spare : he brought him 
to my home, and allowed me once more to in- 
dulge my yearning of bowels over him. Short 
has been the time he has been with me, and ill 
have I improved it : he is gone from my sight, 
and my heart bursts with tumultuous grief. Lord 
have mercy on the widow's son—' the only son 
of his mother, and she a widow.* 



8» DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. 

I ask nothing in all this world for him : I repeat 
my petition; save his soul alive : give him salva- 
tion from sin. It is not the danger of the seas that 
distresses me ; it is not the hardships he must un- 
dergo; it is not the dread of never seeing him 
more in this w^orld : it is because I cannot discern 
the fulfilment of the promise in him. I cannot 
discern the new birth nor its fruits, but every 
symptom of captivity to Satan, the world, and 
self-will. This, O this, is what distresses me : 
and in connection with this, his being shut out from 
ordinances at a distance from Christians ; shut up 
with those who forget God, profane his name, and 
break his Sabbaths, and has chosen his lot among 
a class of men, who often live and die like beasts ; 
yet are accountable creatures, who must answer 
for every moment of time, and every word, 
thought, and action. O Lord, many wonders 
hast thou shown me ; thy ways of dealing with 
me and mine have not been common ones — add 
this wonder to the rest. Call, convert, regene- 
rate, and establish a sailor in the faith. Lord, 
all things are possible with thee : glorify thy 
Son, and extend his kingdom by sea and land ; 
take the prey from the strong. I roll him over 
upon thee. 

New York, August 18, 1791. 
Thus far the Lord hath tried me, and kept me 
to my choice. This night 1 have tidings through 
a letter to Dr. M> that my son has been seized by 



DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. W 

the press-gang. Through God's help he escaped 
with his skin ; but all his assortment of necessaries 
that his sisters and I made up with so much care, 
labor, and expense, they have carried off, and he 
is once more leit naked. Satan, and a corrupt 
heart, unite in tempting me to fret. Dare I utter a 
word, or harbor a murmuring thought? Would I 
withdraw the blank I have put in the Redeemer's 
hand 1 Has he not hitherto done all things well 1 
Have not my own afflictions been my greatest 
blessings ? Have not I asked for my children their 
mother's portion ? Has not God chiefly made use 
of afflictions as means of hedging me in, and shut- 
ting me up to my choice of this portion, as well 
as showing me that He is a sufficient portion with- 
out any other ? When matters have been at the 
worst with me as to this world, my triumphs in 
my God have been highest, and prospects for 
eternity brightest. 

Lord, I renew my blank. I afresh roll them all 
over upon thee. I will try to look on, in the faith 
that all things shall work together for good to 
their souls ; and that I shall yet see the day, or if 
I see it not, that it will come, when they shall bow 
at thy footstool ; sink into the open arms of thy 
mercy in Christ ; melted down in holy, humble, 
acquiescing, cordial submission to thy severest 
dealings with them ; when thou shalt put a new 
song into their mouths, and they shall sing as I dpi 
now, * It hath been very good for me tjiat I have 
been afflicted.' * I wait for thy salvation.' dmen* 



83 DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES, 

iVew? York, October 10, 1791. 

Glory! Glory! Glory! to the hearer of prayer. 
I have cast my fatherless children on the Lord, 
and he has begun to make good my confidence. 
One thin^, one only thing, have I asked for them, 
leaving every thing else to be bestowed or v^ith- 
held, as consisting w^ith that : I seek for my four 
children and myself, first of all, the kingdom of 
God, 

My God from day to day adds many other 
comforts, and strengthens my hopes by promising 
appearances, that the grain of mustard seed is 
sown in the hearts of my three daughters. They 
have joined themselves to the people of God, and 
I have reason to think the Lord has ratified their 
surrender of themselves to him ; he has made 
them willing for the time, and he will hedge them 
in to the choice they have made. 

New York, Jan, 20, 1792. 
Tms day our worthy pastor preached from 
Revelations, xiv. 4. ' These are they who follow 
the Lamb whithersoever he goeth ; these are re- 
deemed from among men, being the first fruits unto 
God, and to the Lamb : and in their mouth was 
found no guile, for they are without fault before 
God.' The one hundred and forty four thousand 
on Mount Zion around the Lamb, having their 
Father's name written on their foreheads. A good- 
ly number. The people of God redeemed from 
among men, and distinguished from the world 



DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. 60 

by the image of God stampt upon their souls, by 
the Spirit of God dwelling in and operating on 
their hearts, and this distinguishable by the eflfect 
it produces on their lives and conversation. 

' They follow the Lamb withersoever he goeth.' 
The Lamb is their leader, and they keep him 
ever in their view ; the world, the men of the 
world, live to and for the world. 

" Some walk in honor's gaudy show, 

Some dig for golden ore, 
They toil for heirs, they know not who, 

And straight are seen no more." 
These are their chief objects, which they hunt 
through life, unmindful of the Gospel call, of the 
offered salvation, of the remonstrances of God in 
his word, providences, and by his sent servaotSj, 
till they drop, oh where ! into the pit of the beast, 
the prince of this world, whose mark is in their 
foreheads, his image ripened in their souls, and 
visible in their lives and conversations. The fol- 
lowers of the Lamb shall share with him in his 
^lory ; the followers of the beast shall share with 
I'lim in the wine of God's wrath, poured out with- 
out mixture into the cup of his indignation, and be 
tormented day and night with fire, in the presence 
of the Lamb and his holy angels ; and the smoke 
of their torment ascendeth up day and night, who 
worship the beast, and receive the mark of his 
name. Why do I start, why do I stagger at the 
Svine declaration ? The Judge of all the earth, 
yea, of heaven or hell, and all worlds, shall do 
tight, yet shall he do this. Mercy as^ well as 



eo DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. 

judgment is, was, and ever shall be around his 
throne, yet shall he do this. Goodness and mer- 
cy are his darling attributes : He is ' the Lord God, 
merciful and gracious, long suffering, abundant in 
goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, 
forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. Yet 
will he do this, for he will by no means clear the 
guilty. Vengeance shall be taken on every sin, 
not one shall pass unpunished : yet these hundred 
and forty-four thousand were sinners of Adam's 
race, with corrupt hearts breaking out into guilty 
words and deeds, like mine, every one, the least 
of them, justly condemning the sinner to these 
dreadful torments. Yet are they all around the 
Lamb, rejoicing in his presence, and beautified 
with his likeness. Blessed Lamb of God ! thou 
art worthy, thou hast loosed the seals, and unra- 
velled the mystery how vengeance can be taken on 
sin, and mercy embrace the sinner. Thou wast 
the ram caught in the thicket I the Father, the 
Judge called, ^ spare, I have found a ransom, 'the 
Son called spare, lo, I come Ho lay down my own 
life for the sheep !' The blessed Spirit called spare, 
*I will create a new heart, and renew a right 
spirit within them !' Through the mysterious m- 
carnation, life, and death, of our glorious Redeem- 
er, Son of God, and Son of man, he hath redeemed, 
sanctified, perfected all around the throne; and 
there are now a goodly number who are on the 
way, bearing their cross after him. 

They have embraced his offered mercy \ they 



DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. 91 

have taken hold of God's covenant just as it stands, 
well ordered in all things and sure, Christ 
himself the sum and substance of it : he is their 
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemp- 
tion. Justifying righteousness he wrought out for 
them b}'- his perfect, personal obedience : their 
sanctification is going on by means of his appoint- 
ing, even by his word, by his sent servants, by 
the operations of his Spirit in their hearts, and 
by his external providences, whereby he brings 
about such a train of circumstances in their lot, as 
breaks the force of corruption, mortifies pride, 
loosens their attachment to the world, endears 
himself to them, and by degrees wins their entire 
confidence and consent to let him do all for them ; 
and ail in them ; and then, and not till then, he is 
all to them. 

New York, 1793. 
The law of thy mouth is better unto me than 
gold and silver. O how I love thy law ; it is my 
meditation all the day. Thou, through thy com- 
mandments, (or the whole of thy truth,) hast made 
me wiser than my teachers. The law of God 
makes the simple wise. How sweet are thy 
words unto my taste, yea, sweeter than honey to 
my mouth. Through thy precepts I get under- 
standing, therefore I hate every false way. ' Thy 
word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my 
path.' O how safe, how happy are they who are 
taught by the word of God ! * Blessed art thou. 



1 



Oi DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. 

Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not taught 
thee this, but my Father who is in heaven.' O 
my children ! enrich your minds with a full ac- 
quaintance with the word of God, lay it up in your 
memories, when you can do nothing more ; be as- 
sured, if ever you are made wise unto salvation, 
it must be by this word ; if ever you are taught 
of God, he will teach you by the words contained 
m the Bible. * Search the Scriptures, for they are 
they which testify of me ;' search the Scriptures, 
for in them are contained the words of eternal life. 
' Be followers of them, who through faith and 
patience now inherit the promises.' Holy David 
went forward, heavenward, improving in the 
knowledge of God, of himself, and of God's plan 
of salvation for ruined sinners, by studying the 
word, the works, and providences of God, but 
chiefly the word of God praying for ; watching for, 
the influences of God's Spirit on his judgment and 
thinking powers : it was by this that he became 
wiser than his teachers. He was a king, and 
had the cares of the nation to occupy his mind ; 
he was a man of war, and had that art to study. 
But, O the privilege of the Christian ! he goes 
through every part even of his earthly way, lean- 
ing upon his God. David could say, even of war, 
* The Lord teaches my hands to war, and my 
fingers to fight.' ' The Lord subdues the people 
under me.' In temporals and in spirituals. He is 
my shield, my strength, my buckler, my strong 
tower. 



DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. 93 

*I shall not fear what man can do unto me.' *In 
Judah's land, God is well known ; there he brake 
the spear, the bow, and the battle.' He ascribes 
all to God. We hear nothing of his own wisdom, 
his disciplined armies, his order of battle, and 
warlike powers, though attention to all these 
was his duty, and not neglected by him. He de- 
voted all his natural talents to God ; he exercised 
them diligently, but still he knew and acted under 
the influence of that knowledge, that ' unless the 
Lord build the house, the builders lose their pains ; 
unless the Lord keep the city, the watchman 
watch in vain.' He, as well as worldly men, 
chose the means best adapted to the end proposed. 
Let natural men assert, and let it be admitted, that 
David knew better how to use a sling and a stone, 
than mail, helmet, and sword; therefore he chose 
them. But follow David until he meets the hos- 
tile foe. Do we hear a word of his art as a slinger, 
as a marksman ? Though we may suppose he 
was expert at both. ' Thou comest to me with 
a sword, a spear, and a shield ; but I come in the 
name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies 
of Israel whom thou hast defied ; and this assem- 
bly shall know, that the Lord saveth not with 
sword and spear, (these are not essential,) for the 
battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our 
hands.' 

How comfortably might Christians go through 
life, did they walk with God in their daily business 
and occupations, carefully observing the leadings 



H DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES 

of providence, cautiously avoiding either running 
before, or lagging behind ; but in all things mak- 
ing their requests knov^n to God; at all times 
committing their w^ay to him, being careful about 
nothing, but to use with diligence the means of 
grace, and also the means of acquiring the good 
things of life, leaving the issues of both to God, in. 
the full assurance that w^hat is good the Lord will 
give. * Trust in the Lord, and do good ; so shall 
thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be 
fed.' In spirituals and in temporals, ' the hand of 
the diligent maketh rich. Be ye diligent in bu- 
siness, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.' 

Lord, teach me thy law graciously, in all its 
perfection, its extent, order, beauty and harmony 
and grant me all the assistance provided to enable 
a lost, depraved, corrupted child of Adam, to set 
out in thy good ways, to go forward, and to finish 
in the same course ; and all the consolation, joy, 
and peace, which thou hast provided to be enjoy- 
ed in a measure even here, and to be perfected 
in the world to come. Amen. 

NeiD Yorky Feb. 10, 1794. 
This day I have a letter from my poor wan- 
derer. It is more than a year since I heard of him. 
Accept of my thanks, good and gracious Lord. I 
feared his cup had been full, and he called out o{ 
the world with his sins on his own head ; for I have 
RO tidings of his turning from his sinful courses, 
or fleeing from the wrath to come, by taking hold 
of the hope set before him. 



DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. fi5 

I bless thee, O, I bless thee, for thy sparing 
mercy, thy long suffering, thy patience, thy for- 
bearance. Yea, even to him, thoii hast been more 
than all this. Thou hast been his preserver, his 
provider; thou hast watched over him in many 
imminent dangers, in the great deeps, in burning 
climes, and in frozen climes. 

Thou hast followed him with thy preserving 
mercy and temporal bounty. He is still in the 
land of the living, and among those who are cal- 
led to look unto thee and live. Still thou feedest 
my hopes of better things for him. Thou suffer- 
est my prayers to lie on the table of thy covenant. 
I will trust, I will hope, I will believe, that in an ac- 
cepted time, thou wilt hear me, and in a day oi 
thy power, thou wilt bow his stubborn will, and 
lay him an humble suppliant at thy feet. O, I 
trust thou wilt bring this poor prodigal to himself^ 
and turn his steps towards his Father's house. 

Lord, I believe, thou knowest I believe, that if 
thou but speak the word, this dead soul shall live ; 
this vile, this guilty soul shall be cleansed ; shall be 
renewed, and he be changed an to humble, thank<- 
ful, genuine child of God, through the cleansing 
blood of atonement, through the imputation of 
the Redeemer's righteousness, and the implanta'* 
tion of thy Spirit. I can do nothing for him, but 
thou canst do all this. I wait for it, Lord, I wait 
for thy salvation. Lord, let there be *joy in 
Heaven over this one sinner repenting.' I roll 
him on thee. I trust in thy sovereign, free, ujJt* 
wmitted m^rcy in Christt. AineB. 



96 DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. 

October 4, 1795. 

Why, O why, is my spirit still depressed 7 why 
these sobs? Father, forgive. ^ Jesus wept.' I 
weep, but acquiesce. This day, two months, 
the Lord delivered my Jessie, Ms Jessie^ from a 
body of sin and death, finished the good work he 
had begun, perfected what concerned her, trim- 
med her lamp, and carried her triumphing through 
the valley of the shadow of death. She overcame 
through the blood of the Lamb. 

I rejoiced in the Lord's work, and was thankful 
that the one, the only thing, I had asked for her, 
was now completed. I saw her delivered from so 
much corruption within, from strong and peculiar 
temptation without. I had seen her often stagger- 
ing, sometimes falling under the rod ; I had 
heard her earnestly wish for deliverance from 
sin, and when death approached, she was more 
than satisfied, said she had been a great sinner 
but she had a great Saviour ; praised him, and 
thanked him for all his dealings with her ; for 
hedging her in, for chastising her; and even 
prayed that sin and corruption might be destroyed 
if the body should be dessolved to effect it. The 
Lord fulfilled her desire, and I may add, mine. 
He lifted upon her the light of his countenance ; 
revived her languid graces ; increased her faith 
and hope ; loosed her from earthly concerns ; 
and made her rejoice in the stability of his Cove- 
nant, and to sing, " all is well, all is well, good 
is the will of the Lord." I did rejoice, I do re- 
joice ; but, O Lord, thou knowest my frame j 



DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. 9f 

she was my pleasant companion, my aflfectionate 
child: my soul feels a want. O fill it up with 
more of thy presence ; give yet more communica- 
tions of thyself. 

May 28, 1796. 

This is the anniversary of my dear Jessie's 
birth, no more to call us together on earth ; but I 
yet remember it, as a day in which our God was 
merciful to me, and made me the mother of an 
heir of salvation. I bless, I praise, my covenant 
God, who enabled me to dedicate her to him 
before she was born, and to ask only one thing' 
for her, as for myself, even an interest in his great 
salvation, leaving it to him to order the means 
time, and manner, as of her natural birth, and 
ripening age, so of her spiritual birth, and ripening 
for glory ; he accepted the charge, and he has 
finished the work, to his own glory, to her eterna! 
happiness, and my joy and comfort. 

I witnessed the sinner, after being sixteen years 
in the school of Christj (taught by his ministers^ 
and most effectually by his rod,) taking shelter in 
" the city of refuge,' in the atonement of God's 
providing, and in * a surety righteousness,' and 
finishing her struggles with" all is well !" my 
heart echoed, and does echo, and will to all 
eternity, " all is well." Glory to God, sing not 
unto her, not unto me, not unto any creature, but 
* to God be the glory,' that she is now delivered 
from 'a body of sin and death, and made meet 
to be a partaker with the saints in light.' HAL- 
LELUJAH, 7 



SB DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES, 

1797. 

* As ye have received the Lord Jesus, so walk in 
him, rooted and built up in him, and stablished in 
the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding 
therein with thanksgiving.' 

Yes, just so, and no other way, shall any poor 
corrupted creature attain hohness, in the very 
same manner that he received the Lord Jesus at 
first. He is ' the Alpha and Omega, the first and 
the last, the beginning and the ending.' 

O Lord, my Saviour, my complete Saviour and 
in whom 1 am complete ! I received thee as 
my expiatory sacrifice, by whom atonement 
was made for my sins ; by whom reconcil- 
iation was made ; I, reconciled to God, and God 
to me. I was then delivered from the power of 
darkness, and translated into the kingdom of God's 
dear Son, and have redemption through his blood, 
even the forgiveness of sins. This same blood 
must cleanse my daily spots, must cleanse my 
very best services. This same blood must cleanse 
my conscience daily, and give me confidence in 
God, as my reconciled Father. By this same 
peace-speaking blood, I daily present myself in 
his presence, and know that he sees no iniquity 
in me so as to condemn me* 

O Lord, I receive thee as my justifying right- 
eousness, disclaiming all confidence in my own 
works, throwing them aside as filthy rags. 1 
placed my soul dependence upon an imputed 
righteousness ; that righteousness, wrought out by 
thee as my surety, in thy holy meritoriou5 life and 



DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. 99 

death : believing thy testimony, ' that the wages 
of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life 
through Jesus Christ our Lord.' Just so must I go 
on, trusting in, resting upon, rejoicing in, the Lord, 
my righteousness. ' By one man's offence many 
were made sinners, so by the obedience of one 
shall many (and I among others) be made right* 
eous. Christ is the end of the law for righteous- 
ness,' therefore I walk at liberty, free from all dread 
of condemnation. Not as a slave ; not as a servant ; 
not as an hireling ; not as a probationer; but as a 
son, an heir of God, to whom the inheritance is 
made sure. I have received the seal of the testa- 
ment, ratified, and made sure, by the death of the 
testator. All the blessings contained in this Bible, 
the records of the well-ordered covenant, are 
mine : and, O glorious truth ! the testator died to 
ratify and insure this testament ; but be lives again, 
the glorious executor, 

O Lord, I received thpp ns my king : depending 
upon promised strength, I swore allegiance to thee, 
and to thy government. Just so, my dear sove- 
reign Master, must I go on ; rejoicing in its 
privileges, subjecting myself cheerfully to its re- 
strictions; studying with care its positive com- 
mands, and setting myself to obey ; submitting 
with meekness to its discipline ; claiming thy 
kingly power to subdue the corruptions of my 
heart, to defend from foes within and foes without ; 
and when thou cajlest me to fight, to arm me for 
battle, and to lead me on to victory. 



100 DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. 

I received thee as my divine Saviour, as the 
covenant of the people ; the covenant arranged, 
ratified, and fulfilled ; to me a covenant of free 
gift. Receiving thee, I received all the promises 
in their fullest extent, as legally made over, and 
confirmed to nie by the irrevocable gift of Deity ; 
and in thee, as my Saviour, dwelleth all the ful- 
ness of the Godhead bodily. Yes, dwelleth in 
him for his people, his ransomed : dwelleth in him 
as our head ; we are united to him, one with him, 
as he and the Father are one, and being one with 
him, we are complete in him: He is the head, 
we the members ; he is the vine, we the branches : 
He is the foundation and chief corner stone, we 
the building. Thus let us walk in him ; rooted 
and built up in him ; filled with the knowledge 
of his will, in all wisdom and spiritual understand- 
ing ; walking worthy of the Lord, unto all pleasing 
— being fruitful in every good work, and increas- 
ing in the knowledg-e of God ; strengthened with 
all might, according to his glorious power ; unto 
all patience, and long-suflfering, with joyfulness ; 
for it is he * who worketh in us, both to will, and 
to do of his good pleasure ;' and although * of our- 
selves we can do nothing, yet we can do all things 
through Christ strengthening us ; and he has 
promised, ' that as our day, so shall our strength be.' 

It is well. Lord, it is well. Thou art mine, and 
I am thine: thou art mine with all thy fulness, 
what can I want besides? Nothing, Lord. Thou 



DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. 101 

hast given me ^ the heritage of those that fear thy 
name :' I am satisfied with my portion. Amen. 

Be my God, and the God of my seed, and 
glorify thy name in us. 



1797. 

Psalm cxix. * Remove far from me vanity and 
lies.' 

The way of lies, deception ; sin, sin metaphori- 
cal, alluding to an archer missing his mark, or a 
traveller missing his way. Every deviation from 
rectitude and truth, is sin. Who that knows any 
thing of the corruption of the human heart, and its 
strange tendency to stray, to err ; yea, even to 
pervert the plainest and simplest, and most obvious 
truths, but must see the propriety of his joining the 
Psalmist, and crying out, ^- Lord, remove far from 
me the way of lies." 

The way of lies, as it respects our judgment 
and sentiments ; as it respects our motives of action ; 
and as it respects our conduct. 

As it respects our judgment , how does every 
species of error abound : even the serious and 
^earnest seekers of truth differ in many things, 
which although they may not mar their final sal- 
vation, mar iheir progress in knowledge, in holi- 
ness, and in comfort. " Lord, remove far from us 
the way of hes." Lead us to the pure, unmixed, 
unerring word of truth, as it respects our senti- 
ments, and as it respects our conduct. O how 
many deceive themselves by resting on a specu- 



102 DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. 

lative knowledge of the truth, or what they esteem 
such, while their hearts remain unaffected, their 
tempers unsanctified, and their hves unfruitful. 
Passionate, stubborn, relentless, unmerciful, im- 
placable tempers indulged and unmortified, must 
be a way of lies. ' Learn of me,' says the Saviour, 
' for I am meek and lowly, and ye shall find rest 
to your souls.' ' The meek will he teach his way, 
the meek will he guide in judgment.' 

' Remove far from me the way of lies, and teach 
me thy law graciously.' 

' Teach me thy law graciously,' not the cere- 
monial and the moral law alone, but the whole of 
God's revealed will. The Psalmist knew the law 
ceremonial and moral, but he wants more and 
more of the teaching of the Spirit of God. * He,' 
the Spirit of truth, ^ shall take of mine, and show 
it unto you.' The word of God is ever the same ; 
it contains the whole truth, and nothing but the 
truth ; every thing necessary to safety, to holiness, 
and happiness : but O the difference between him 
who reads with a mind enlightened by the Spirit 
of God, and him who reads with no other assist- 
ance than his own poor blinded darkened reason, 
* Teach me then thy law graciously. I will praise 
thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have 
learned thy judgments. Open thou mine eyes, 
that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.' 
The Psalmist thirsted after more and more exten- 
sive views of the word of God, and still as his views 
were enlarged he desired more. Verse 64. /The 



DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. 103 

earth is full of thy mercy :' this was one lesson, 
but still he cries, ' teach me thy statutes ; thou 
hast dealt bountifully with me, O Lord, according 
to thy word:' still he cries, 'Teach me good 
judgment and knowledge. It is jG^ood for me that I 
have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes.' 

November 22, 1801, 

Isabella S is very ill, she appears to be in 

a stupor. Two physicians arc^ttending, but ' my 
eyes are to the Lord.' She is his own, dedicated 
to him in baptism, in which we took hold of his 
covenant, a God in Christ for her, in particular, 
for ourselves and our children, 

I desire not to draw back, but the Lord strength- 
ening me, to give up at his call. If it be his will 
to spare her, she is still his own to be done by, 
with, and for, as his infinite wisdom may see fit, 
for his own glory, and her eternal interest. If he 
is about to remove her out of the world, she is his 
own ; out of the mouth of this babe will he perfect 
praise; with that company of little children of 
whom is the kingdom of heaven, she shall join in 
the song of Moses and the Lamb, '' to him that 
redeemed us and washed us from our sins in his 
own blood, to him be glory, honour, dominion, 
and power," 

A^oi?em6er 23, 1801, 
This day, the dear Isabella joined the church 
triumphant, took her place among that company 



tH» DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. 

of little children which Christ has pronounced 
blessed, and " of the kingdom of Heaven." I 
yesterday asked of the Lord, that he would take 
her in his arms, and carry her through the dark 
valley, that he would give her a gentle and easy 
passage, and an abundant entrance into his king- 
dom. O, he heard my prayer ; it was indeed soft 
and gentle ; not a struggle, not a groan — and the 
affliction which brought down the frame w^s 
moderate throughout. I was enabled to resign the 
Lord's own into his own hand, in the faith that he 
did receive, and would keep that which I com- 
mitted to him. 

My soul is satisfied ; more than satisfied : 1 
rejoice, and congratulate the lovely babe on her 
early escape from a world of sin and sorrow, to 
the arms of her dear Re^ieen^ers and to perfect 
blessedness with him/ 

1802. 

Dear brother Pero,* happy brother Fero, thy 

Jesus in whom thou trustedst, has loosed thy 

bonds, has brought thee to that rest which remains 

for the people of God ,• thou drinkest of the pure 

* Pero was an elderly man of colour, whom Mr. Andrew 
Smith had purchased, and made free. 

Pero had previously been a freed man of Christ. He 
had been for some time in ill health ; Mrs. Graham kindly 
attended on him, and read the scriptures to him ; he died 
by the bursting of a blood-vessel, at an hour when none 
of the family were with him. Mrs. Graham, in humility 
of spirit, reproaches herself in this exercise, for having been 
absent from him, without inquiring into nis situation, for 
one hour. 



DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES, 105 

river that maketh glad the city of our God ; of 
that blessed fountain from which issue all the 
streams which refresh and revive us weary pil- 
grims. But a little while ago, and thou wast 
weary, dark, and solitary ; thy flesh fettering and 
clogging thy spirit; thy God trying thy faith, 
hope, and patience, which he had previously im- 
planted, watered, and made vigorous, to stand' 
that trial more precious than gold that perisbeth, 
though it be tried by fire, and was made manifest 
to the glory of that Saviour who leaves not his 
people in any case. If need be, they are in 
heaviness, through manifold temptations, he 
knows how to deliver them, having himself been 
tempted. Thou hadst a taste of his cup ; like him 
thou didst endure the contradiction of sinners; 
like him thou didst experience the desertion of 
friends, even thine old mistress, whom thou lately 
didst esteem as a sister in Christ, and to whom 
thou didst look for fresh communications from and 
through that written word, which she could read 
and thou couJdstnot. Oh ! how did she prove as 
a broken reed unto thee ? how did she neglect 
thy necessity, and her own opportunity of bring- 
ing forth fruit in its season ? Thou hast been no 
loser. The Lord has shoved aside the slothful 
servant, the unfaithful steward, who neglected to 
give thee thy meet in due season, and himself stept 
into her place ; taken thee from that household 
which was not worthy of thee, and led thee to 
those mansions of bliss which himself purchased 



aO« DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. 

and prepared ; set thee at that table which shall 
never be drawn, where thou shalt feast on all the 
fulness of God, and drink of those pleasures which 
are at his right hand for evermore. No need of 
old mistress now ; no need of any earthly vessel 
now, nor of that written word which thou didst so 
highly prize. The word made flesh, has removed 
the vale that shaded the glory of the God-man 
from thine eyes; flesh and blood could not behold 
it ; of this he has unclothed thee ; left it with us to 
look upon and mourn pur sin. Thee he has intro- 
duced into the full vision of eternal day, where 
thou knowest as thou art kppwp, and seest as thou 
art seen. O that full communion enjoyed between 
a holy soul and the perfection of holiness ! O that 
Light of Life ! that Ocean of Love ! that incon- 
ceivable blessedness ! How hast thou outrun us, 
brother Perol How distanced us in a moment? 
Oh could I not watch with thee one hour ! Oh that 
I had received thy last blessing, instead of which, 
conscious ofi*ence, deserved rebuke, painful coi^- 
punction, wring niy heart ; and perhaps the focJ 
of correction may be suspended, and now ready 
to fall on my guilty head. 

Father ! O my Father ! Am I not still thy child? 
still thy adopted? O have not I an Advocate with 
thee, Jesus Christ, the righteous, whom thou 
hearest always? does not the blood of Christ 
cleanse from all sin? yes, O yes. This is my uni- 
versal remedy ; thousands and ten thousands of 
times have I experienced its efficacy. Father, 



DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. im 

I again apply ; Blessed Spiritj do thine ofiBce ! 
Wash me and I shall be clean, purge me and I 
shall be whiter than the snow. I confess my sin, 
I acknowledge mine iniquity. Thou didst bring 
to me an old disciple, near and dear to his and 
my Saviour ; thou didst require me to minister 
unto him all that he needed : the honour was 
great, the opportunity was valuable. Thou didst 
empty the servant for a time, hid his comfort, that 
I might, through thy written word, draw living 
waters for him, and give him to drink, O the 
honour ! Oh the negligence ! Thou didst send 
the call for thy disciple to come up to thee ; in 
thy providence thou didst make it first known to 
me, that I might be instrumental in conveying to 
him, through the same channel, oil and trimming 
for his lamp. Great w^as the honour ! Dignified 
the service ! But lost to me for ever, I passed by 
on the other side. Blessed, blessed Jesus ! The 
good Samaritan, who poured the oil and wine into 
his wounds, and took him, not to an inn, but to 
those mansions in the skies, which he with his 
own blood purchased for him ; sanctify> O sanc- 
tify, to me this thy providence ; pardon my sinful 
part in it. Saviour* wash m<i in thy blood, and 
sanctify, and bring good out of even my trans- 
gression, O, by thy grace, let it be a mean of 
stirring me up to more watchfulness, that I may 
meet the opportunities afibrded me in thy provi- 
dence, to occupy, till thou come. 



108 DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. 

February^ 1804. 
A new thing is on the wheel in the city of New- 
York. A society of ladies, organized for the 
purpose of relieving widows with small children, 
was new in this country. It is now by the bless- 
ing of God, apparently established. It was entered 
upon with prayer : it has been conducted thus far 
with prayer. The blessing of God has rested 
upon it, and much good has been done by it. 
Some of us have looked long, and requested of 
God to open a way by which the children of these 
widows might be instructed and taught tp read 
his word, and by his blessing on it, come to the 
knowledge of the way of salvation. One mean 
has been attempted of an ordinary kind : twelve 
children were last week placed at school with 

Mrs. L , to be taught to read, and some more 

are to be placed with another of our widows, for 
the same purpose. But this indeed is new. A 
society of young ladies, the first in rank in the 
city, in the very bloom of life, and full of its pros- 
pects, engaged in those pleasures and amusements 
which tend to engross the mind, and shut out 
every idea unconnected with them ; coming for- 
ward and offering, (not to contribute towards a 
school,) but their own personal attendance, to 
instruct the ignorant. O Lord, prosper. If this 
be of thee, it shall prosper, and be productive of 
much good ; but if thou bless not, it will come to 
nothing but shame. No good can be done but by 
thee, for * there is none good but God ;' and what 



DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. 109 

are all thy creatures, but instruments in thy hand, 
by which thou bringest to pass the purposes of 
thy will. Christians^ redeemed, enlightened, 
sanctified, are no more, ' thou workest all their 
works in them,' they themselves are ' thy work- 
manship created in Christ Jesus, unto good works, 
which thou hast prepared, that they should walk 
in them.' Worldlings also are thy instruments : 
by them also thou workest and bringest to pass 
the counsels of thy will ; thou puttest into their 
heart the good thing which thou workest, and 
girdest them for the purpose : though not the 
children of thy Covenant, they are the instruments 
of thy providence. 

O Lord, take up this matter ; gird these young 
women to this very purpose, and prosper them in 
the art of teaching these orphans of thy Provi- 
dence. And, O Lord, hear my more important 
petition. I am not worthy to be heard. O Lord, 
I am not worthy to be named in connexion with 
any good done by thee. *I am the chief of sin- 
ners,' the chief of backsliders ; every thing in me, 
of me, or by me, is vile as far as it is mine. 
All that is otherwise, all good implanted in me, 
or done by me, is thine own ; it is Grace, free 
Grace, the purchase of thine own Anointed, my 
dear Redeemer, my dying, risen, ascended Sav- 
iour, and the fruit of the Holy Ghost, ' the sent of 
the Father and of the Son,' to set up a kingdom 
of righteousness, in the hearts of the redeemed. 
O then, as a sinner saved by grace, to whom thou 



110 DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES, 

hast been pleased to give the exceeding great and 
precious promises ; let me, under the sprinkling 
of the blood of the Covenant, and in entire de- 
pendance on my surety righteousness; let me 
draw near and present my petition ; in the name, 
and for the sake, of him v^hom thou hearest always. 
O Lord God Almighty, by this very thing, build 
up thy Zion. O lay hold of these young creatures, 
and while they are in the way of thy providence, 
bring them ' to the house of our master's brethren.' 
O thou great Teacher, teach thou teacher and 
taught. Be found of them who seek thee not, and 
say with power, ^ Behold me, behold me, to a 
people not yet called by thy name,' and out of 
this small thing in thy providence, bring revenues 
of praise to thy name as the God of grace. Amen. 
And now, O Lord, for myself, I pray for deep 
humility ; I ask for his sake, who was meek and 
lowly, to be kept where my place really is, (for 
all that which thou knowest,) at the feet of all thy 
servants ; and if it be thy pleasure to make me a 
useful instrument — in proportion make me a hum- 
ble soul. Let me ever ' remember my ways and 
be ashamed, and never open my mouth any more 
because of my shame, when thou art pacified to- 
wards me for all that 1 have done.' O keep me 
in this contrite frame of mind. In all that to which 
thou callest me, give me a willing heart, and fur- 
nish me with every necessary for thy glory. And 
now prepare me to speak to these young women 
good and acceptable words. Save me from sac- 



DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. Ill 

rificing truth, or departing, in any respect, from 
Christian duty ; give me such wisdom, as may be 
suited to the occasion ; in all things ' mine eyes are 
to the Lord ; from thee let my fruit be found.' 

February 17, 1804. 
Saturday the 11th. Twenty, nine young ladies 
met with Mrs. Hoffman and myself, at Mr. O. 
Hoffman's, Wall-street, on purpose to receive in- 
structions respecting the school, and having paired 
themselves according to their mind, I delivered 
what I had prepared for them i they all seemed 
hearty in their engagement ; and on Monday the 

13th inst. Miss L 1 and Mis L n, attended 

at the school-room, and commenced teaching 
thirteen children ; four have been added since. 

Again, O Lord, let me request thy blessing on 
this institution ; put thy seal upon it, and mark it 
for thine own. Gird the teachers for their work, 
and open the minds of the scholars to instruction. 
And, O Lord, in thine own time, and by means 
of thy own devising, provide spiritual instruction 
for teachers and taught. Is it thy pleasure, Lord, 
that I attend the children on a day appointed for 
the purpose 1 Wilt thou accept of me as an in- 
strument, by whicbthou wilt do good to the souls 
of these children, and wilt thou keep me humble 
and contrite in my own soul t Bless also Mrs. L's 
school ; there too let thy work appear ; deal with 
her soul as ' thou dealest with thy chosen ;' teach 
her the way of salvation, and make her a teacher 



119 DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. 

by thine own Spirit. If it be my dear Master's 
pleasure to use me, I would also attend that school 
as his instrument. ' Search me, O Lord, and know 
my heart, try me and know my thoughts, and see 
if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me 
in the way everlasting.' 

January^ 1810. 

Come and let us return unto the Lord, for he 
hath torn, and he will heal us : He hath smitten, 
and he will bind us up. Aftel- two days will he 
revive us, in the third he will raise us up, and we 
shall live in his sight.' 

*0 Lord, turn us and we shall be turned, draw 
us and we will run after thee. Revive us, and 
we shall live in thy sight.' Thou must ever be 
first. It is in our nature to backslide for ever : and 
whenever we see a backslider restored, or a rebel 
lay down the weapons of rebellion, there we may 
trace thy footsteps, O God of grace. 

No external providence will touch our hard, our 
deceitful hearts. All that goes under the name of 
misfortune, will but drive us from thee, never to 
thee, till thou teach us to profit, and lead us by the 
way that we should go. Thou callest, ' Return, 
ye backsliding children, and I will heal your 
backslidings;' but we have been foolish, sottish 
children, without understanding, wise to do evil, 
but to do good having no knowledge, 

O let the days be come, that day, and that time, 
when the children of America, (the earth is the 



DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. 11^ 

Lord's,) shall ' come with weeping, and seek the 
Lord their God ;' when ' they shall ask the way 
to Zion, with their faces thitherward :' when they 
shall come, saying, ' Let us join ourselves to the 
Lord, in a perpetual Covenant, never to be for- 
gotten. O the Hope of Israel, and the Saviour 
thereof; is not that day and that time come?' 
Hast thou not been working on ' the right hand 
and on the left?' Thou hast given us pastors ac- 
cording to thine own heart, who feed us with 
knowledge and understanding ; and thou art here 
and there proving thy Gospel, thy power, and thy 
wisdom, to the salvation of sinners ; casting down 
the imagination of pride, and bringing all into 
subjection to thy Son Jesus. 

O pour out ' the spirit of grace and supplication* 
upon thy living members, that they may wrestle 
with thee, and ' not let thee go until thou bless 
us,' until thou make this ' cloud like a man's hand,' 
cover our heavens with blackness, and issue in a 
plentiful rain. ' O pour water upon him that is 
thirsty, and floods on the dry ground, thy Spirit 
upon our seed, and thy blessing upon our offspring.' 
O Lord, hast thou not said that thou wilt do it, 
and that ' they shall spring up as among the grass, 
and as willows by the water-courses. One shall 
say, I am the Lord's, another shall call himself 
by the name of Jacob, and another shall subscribe 
with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself 
by the God of Israel' Amen, O our God, amen. 
8 



114 DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. 

1810. 

In December, 1809, a Bible Society was organ- 
ized in New-York, and about the same time 
twenty respectable characters united in a society, 
to wait on the Lord, to know what their hands 
could find to do, to promote his glory, to advance 
his kingdom, to spread the savor of the Re- 
deemer's name, or in any way to benefit the souls 
of their fellow-sinners. 

On Monday a meeting for prayer was instituted 
in Hetty-street, and another in Mulberry-street, 
with which the Presbyterian ministers have agreed 
to meet in rotation. It is the Lord ! We have 
heard of revivals all around, but feared lest the 
aggravated sins of New- York might provoke the 
Lord to pass by, leaving * our fleece dry, while 
the dew wet all around.' Great have been our 
privileges; the Gospel trumpet has sounded in 
every corner of our city. The Lord's sent ser- 
vants have set before us life and death, assuring 
us, from God's word, that ' though hand join in 
hand, the wicked shall not go unpunished ;' be- 
seeching us ' to flee from the wrath to come, and 
lay hold on the hope set before us.' God in his 
providence has visited us with mercies and with 
judgments: * stricken us, and healed us;' scat- 
tered us, and gathered us : but alas ! alas ! we 
kept ^eating and drinking, marrying and giving 
in marriage.' Many, very many, wasting their 
time, health, and substance, in all manner of im- 



DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. US 

morality, and our rulers caring for none of these 
things : yea, many of them practising the same 
things ; and, Oh ! Oh ! God's own saved people 
sitting still, restraining testimony before men, and 
prayer before God. What were we to expect but 
that God should say, ' why should they be stricken 
any more, they will revolt more and more, they 
are joined to their idols, let them alone.' Such, 
O Lord, would be the case, didst thou not deliver 
us out of our own self-destroying snares. If thou 
turn us not, we shall never turn ; it is in our nature 
to backslide for ever. 
But Oh ! is not the the time come to pass, when 

* before thy people call, thou answerest, and while 
they are yet speaking, thou hearest.' Art thou 
not calHng with power, ' Return, ye backsliding 
children, and I will heal your backslidingsl' and 
hast thou not prepared their hearts to answer, 

* Behold we come unto thee, for thou art the Lord 
our God : truly in vain is salvation looked for 
from the hills, and from the multitude of moun- 
tains, truly, from the Lord our God is the salva- 
tion of Israel.' Hast thou not, O God, prepared 
the hearts of thy people to pray, and thine ear to 
hear? Is not this Bible Society, and are not these 
associations for prayer, tokens from thee, for good ? 
More and more. Lord, may thy people ' give thee 
no rest, until thou make Zion a praise in the earth.' 

* O the Hope of Israel, and the Saviour thereof, 
be not as a wayfaring man, that turneth aside for 
a night,' May thy people constrain thee to abide 



116 DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. 

with us for ever, ' to form us a people for thyself, 
to show forth thy praise.' 

Ihave just conveyed dear Mrs. A le to the 

confines of the eternal world. I trust the dear Re- 
deemer received her spirit. 1 have a good hope 
that she is now in possession of the mansion pur- 
chased and prepared for her, by that dear Saviour, 
whose name she professed, and I think in an hum- 
ble, steady, quiet way, faithfully followed. She 
loved the word of God, the house of God, the peo- 
ple of God. She spoke Httle, but said she had a 
good hope ; asked me to read the Bible different 
times, and also to pray ; said the invitations of the 
Gospel were sweet to her: observed, that the 
Lord had been very merciful to her in her affliction. 

A few hours before her death she desired me to 
read that hymn, " To him that loved the souls of 
men," &c. Also, " Come let us join our cheerful 
songs," &c. She asked me if I thought she would 
be long ; I said no, my dear ; you will very soon 
be with Jesus ; and encouraged her as the Lord 
enabled me. She repeated the question some 
time after, and I gave the same answer. She then 
said, " this night ?" I answered yes, my love this 
night. She bowed her head with a sweet smile, 
laid it in a reclining posture, and evidently set 
herself to wait with patience the Lord's time. 
She was very much oppressed, and breathed with 
much difficulty. Some time after, she asked me 
to pray, which I did, and begged that the Lord 
would increase her faith and patience, and if ac- 



DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. 117 

cording to his will, give her a gentle passage, and 
an abundant entrance. In a short time her breath- 
ing became short and low, she shut her eyes, and 
gently breathed weaker and weaker, till her God 
delivered her without motion or groan. I was on 
my knees praying, I then thanked God for his 
goodness, in this sweet dismission. Frayed for 
the husband, the children, the two young men 
present, and us all ; gave glory to God, and rose 
to watch to further duty. 

Sabbath, July 26, 1812. 

Tired of the bustle of Rockaway, and having 
some subordinate motives for returning home for 
a time, I embraced this season in particular; having, 
in the compass of one week, Sabbath, Wednesday 
my birth-day, and the day set apart both by the 
General Assembly of our Church, and the Gov- 
ernor of our State, for fasting, prayer, and humilia- 
tion, besides lecture on the same evening. I 
returned, therefore, on Friday, the 24th. 

This day. Dr. R n preached from the first 

verse of the 27th Psalm, ' The Lord is my light 
and my salvation ; whom shall I fear ? the Lord 
is the strength of my life ; of whom shall I be 
afraid? He spoke of the nature and causes of 
fear, of the perfections of God, and the security 
of believers in those perfections. He spoke ot 
the faith which unites to Christ, and secures the 
safety and true interest of believers, in every pos- 
sible case. His chief design seemed to be to 



118 DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. 

strengthen the weak, and confirm the fearful and 
the doubting, who had nevextheless, both from 
former and present experience, a good right to 
the consolations of the text. 

O my God ! my merciful and gracious God ! 
what can I say of thy amazing, distinguishing 
mercy to me? Delivered from all these fears, 
and able to adopt the text fully, I know of none 
who have more or greater cause of fear as sinners. 
My transgressions have been oi crimson and scar- 
let hue. O my God, thou knowest them, words 
cannot paint them. My Saviour, thou knowest 
them, for thou baredst them ! every jot and tittle 
was put to thy account, and thou didst cancel all ! 

that garden ! that cry o-n the cross ! the effects 
were seen on thy sacred body, but who can con- 
ceive the mysterious horror which agonized thy 
sacred soul ! But thou saidst, It is finished^ and 
finished it is. ' Lamb of God, which taketh away 
the sins of the world !' on thy consecrated head 

1 lay the hand of faith, confess my sins, pray for 
forgiveness, and believe that I am forgiven. 

July 29th, my birth-day, and the last day of 
the three-score years and ten of my sinful life. 
What an exhibition will that day produce, when 
the secrets of all hearts will be laid open, all my 
actions, and all the springs of them. In all the 
myriads which shall appear at the bar of God, 
will there be such a sinner ? taking into view the 
early grace manifested. 

Born, I think, about the seventeenth year of my 



DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. 119 

natural life ; previously instructed in the doctrines 
and precepts of the scriptures, as far as the natural 
mind can conceive, by pious parents and faithful 
pastor ; milk provided for my spiritual infancy, 
and richer food set before me for my growth ; the 
leaves of the New Covenant were opened to my 
view, and the fulness treasured in Christ, for my 
supply ; to be asked, to be delighted in — and de- 
lighted I was, and satisfied. But Oh ! Oh ! Oh 1 
1 ' forsook the fountain of living watei^, and hewed 
out broken cisterns that could hold no water.' 
Where can language be found to depict my in- 
gratitude, my madness, my folly ; and where to 
describe the long-suffering, the compassionate re- 
monstrances ; the kindly, fatherly chastisements ; 
the repeated pardons, and restorations of my 
gracious God in days of youth : aggravating my 
renewed backslidings, bringing upon my sinful 
soul vengeance for my inventions? What were 
the sins of Israel and Judah to mine ? the great 
atonement was made, the adorable High Priest, 
Jesus, had with his own blood entered within the 
veil, and was set on the right hand of the throne 
of the Majesty of the heavens ; ' the minister of 
the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle which 
the Lord pitched, and not man. 

The New Covenant was exhibited, established 
on better promises, himself the Mediator. ' The 
new and living way was consecrated to the holiest 
of all, by the blood of Jesus ;' a throne of grace 
was established ; Jesus himself our Advocate and 



120 DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. 

Intercessor. We are now privileged *to come 
boldly to the throne of grace, that we may find 
grace to help in the time of need.' O how aggra- 
vated my sin above theirs, having such great and 
precious privileges and promises, and a 'High 
Priest who can be touched with the feeling of our 
infirmities,' who ' was in all points tempted as we 
are ;' who owns us as his brethren and sisters, yea, 
the very members of his body, and his Spirit 
dwelling in us. 

I set apart the day for fasting and deep humilia-* 
tion, took another survey of my past sinful life ; 
confessed particulars on my knees, and made a 
fresh application to the blood of sprinkling which 
cleanseth from all sin ; took a fresh hold of his 
New Covenant of promise. — ' This is the Cove- 
nant that I will make with them after those days, 
saith the Lord ; I will put my laws in their hearts, 
and in their minds will I write them, and their 
sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.' 
Lord, do as thou hast said. 

I rest my immortal soul on thy promise. 



July 30, 1812. 

The day set apart by the General Assembly 
and State Legislature for fasting and humiliation, 
confession of sin, and prayer. 

Dr. R read the second chapter of Jeremiah, 

a great portion of which belongs to my own cha- 
racter, as an individual ; and is laid up as part of 
that provision which is to support me through the 



DETOTIONAL EXERCISES. m 

last stag:e in the wilderness, and through Jordan^ 
over which I must shortly pass ; laid in as a proof 
of the amazing long-suffering of God, and his^ 
readiness to forgive, even the vile backslider, in 
heart and life, as proclaimed in chapter third. 



Greenwich^ Sahbath. 

Heard Dr. M r preach in the State Prison 

to the convicts, from Luke xix. 10. — ' For the Son 
of man is come to seek and save that which was 
lost.' 

He addressed them as fellow-sinners, all being 
by nature lost and dependant on the same means 
for recovery. 

True, my heart accords. O Lord, thou knowest 
I stand in my own estimation, a sinner, the chief 
of sinners. These have added to their sin against 
thee, breach against men, and are suffering the 
penalty. 

My sins have been chiefly, though far from ex- 
clusively, against God, and with many aggrava- 
tions. That 1 was born in a Christian land, of 
pious parents, who gave me religious instructions ; 
brought up under faithful, lively ministers, and in 
religious society ; exposed to few temptations but 
what arose from the corruptions of my own heart, 
are aggravations, which, perhaps, many are 
mourning over, as heightening the sin of unbelief 
in their unregenerated state. But Oh the aggra* 
vations ! the painful remembrance of which mars 
my comfort, covers me with shame and covifusion, 



122 DEVOTIONAL EXlERCISES, 

even now, though I know that God is 'pacified with 
7ne, are as far above these as the heavens are above 
the earth. For in that Christian Jand, under those 
Christian parents and faithful pastors, while yet 
young and tender, I was ' enlightened, tasted of 
the heavenly gift, was made a partaker of the 
Holy Ghost, tasted of the good word of God, and 
the power of the world to come.' I was taken 
from ^ the fearful pit and miry clay ; my feet set 
upon the rock, and a new song put into my mouth, 
even to the amount of, O death ! where is thy 
sting 1'— of redeeming love, pardoning grace, new 
covenant mercy ; I had 'joy and peace in believ- 
ing.' But forgetting my natural character, the 
extreme volatility of my spirits, my taste for 
gayety ; forgetting the danger of smothering the 
heavenly spark, by indulging to the utmost bound 
of lawful pleasure ; forgetting my continual need 
of fresh supplies of grace, to preserve and feed 
that new life which could not live on earthl}^ food, 
the deceitfulness of my heart, the injunctions of 
my Bible ; I became cold, negligent in the use of 
means, distant in prayer, lost enjoyment, and my 
heart naturally carnal, and madly fond of plea- 
sure, got entangled. ' The lust of the eye, the 
lust of the flesh, and the pride of life,' regained 
their power ; other loves usurped the place of that 
Beloved, who had bought me with his blood, and 
betrothed me to himself! ' that which came into 
my mind was, that I would be as the families of 
the countries, serve wood and stone.' Blessed be 



DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. 133 

his name, he said, ' It shall not be.' He brought 
me into the wilderness and pleaded with me, 
caused me to pass under the rod, brought me 
again into the bond of the covenant. O how often 
hast thou ' wrought with me, for thy name's sake ! 
One self-willed step brought with it a train of 
consequences dangerous to spiritual life, jfilling 
even the path of duty with pits and snares, cutting 
me off from ordinances, pastor, parents, church 
country, and Christian society ; placing me at the 
same time in the midst of carnal delights ; and 
every thing in my natural temper and disposition 
congenial to them. What saved me ? What in 
heaven or earth could save me, but thy covenant 1 
' Truly, thy covenant standeth fast ;' therefore I 
was not lost in the vortex, for I mixed in it in part. 
But ' the Lord God, merciful and gracious, slow 
to anger, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiv- 
ing iniquity, transgression and sin,' kept his eye 
upon me : many a time did he stop up my pathk 
O from how many delusions of my own seeking ; 
how many snares and nets of my own weaving; 
how many pits of my own digging, hast thou 
delivered me, when wandering, bewildered on 
temptation's ground, in the cloudy dark day ! 
How often hast thou sought me out ; how often 
bound me up when broken ; strengthened ms 
when sick, and fed me with judgment, and very, 
very often, thou madest thyself known to me ! 1 
knew thy hand when it shook the rod, w^hen it 
arrested me on some mad career. I knew thy 



lU DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. 

hedge, thy bar ; saw, not only escapes, but my 
Deliverer; often paused, turned, and took a fast 
hold of ^Ay covenant I had no afflictions in those 
days, but every pleasure lawful to be enjoyed, and 
natural to the heart of woman ; but no Pastor, no 
Church, no Christian society ; yet God was there, 
my Bible, ray Doddridge, and other good books. 
And to my shame and confusion this day, he was 
not in the midst of all my idolatry, ' a barren 
wilderness, nor a land of drought to me.' I had 
many Sabbaths : literally the Sabbath was a ' sign 
between my covenant God and me;' ill spent it 
often was, but not with company : it was spent in 
retirement. The Lord did not leave me so far 
as to give up the Sabbath to the world. Though 
my heart was incrusted, and spiritual life scarcely 
discernible, sometimes the Lord met me, and 
strange to tell, not with threatenings, causing ter- 
ror, but with compunction, melting, turning, and 
ere the day was over, manifestations of pardon, 
though not joy; for 1 was grieved at my in- 
gratitude. 

I did expect affliction long before it came, and 
my presumptuous heart calculated upon the fruit 
being the ' peaceable fruit of righteousness, and 
to take away sin ;' but still I held my way, ' gad- 
ding about, drinking the waters of Sihor, and the 
rivers of Syria,' and eating the worldling's dain- 
ties. Oh ! oh ! at last it came ; yes, it came, 
* Thou didst cut ofif the desire of my eyes with a 
stroke,' and with that made the world a blank to 



DEVOTIOINTAL EXERCISES. 125 

me. But, Oh ! the stately steps of thy providen- 
tial mercy, previous to that trying hour I O my 
God, I must ever wonder, and stand amazed at 
thy exuberant grace ! In consistence w^ith thy 
covenant, thou mightest have struck me among 
these worldlings, in ' that dry and barren land,' 
where not one tongue could speak the language 
of Canaan, nor bring forth from thy precious Bible 
the words of consolation to my wounded and be- 
reaved spirit ; richly had I merited this, but never, 
no never, ' hast thou dealt with me as I sinned !' 
Through the whole of my life, from the time that 
' the Lord called me out of darkness into his marvel- 
lous light;' from the time that he first led me to the 
Saviour, and enabled me to take hold of his cove- 
nant. ' Wanderer, backslider, transgressor, rebel, 
idolater, ingrate,' and if there be any name more 
expressively vile and abominable, that is mine. 
And from the hour of my birth, through the whole 
of this refractory perverse life, * the Lord, the 
Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, 
abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, 
transgression and sin,' has been, and now is, thy 
name to me. 

No, ye strong built walls, ye grated windows, 
ye gloomy cells, ye confine no such sinner as L 
And did the Lord take vengeance on my inven- 
tions? O no, Mercy preceded, mercy accompa- 
nied judgment ; yea, it was all mercy, not ven- 
geance. He brought me and my idol out of that 
barren land, placed U9 under the breath of prayer, 



126 DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. 

among a dear little society of methodists ; he laid 
tis upon their spirits, and when the messenger 
Death was sent for my beloved, the breath of 
prayer ascended from his bedside, from their little 
meeting, and I believe from their families and 
closets. The God of mercy prepared their hearts 
to pray, and his ear to hear, and the answer did 
not tarry. Behold, my husband prayeth ; con- 
fesseth sin; applies to the Saviour; pleads for 
forgiveness for his sake ; receives comfort; blesses 
God for Jesus Christ, and dies with these words 
on his tongue, " I hold fast by the Saviour !" Be- 
hold another wonder ! the idolatress in an ecstacy 
of joy. She who never could realize a separation 
for one single minute during his life, now resigns 
her heart's treasure, with praise and thanksgiving ! 

O the joy of that hour ! its savor remains on my 
heart to this moment. For five days and nights, 
I had been little off my knees ; it was my ordinary 
posture at his bedside, and in all that time, I had 
but once requested life. Surely, ' the spirit of 
prayer and supplication was poured out.' ' The 
Spirit helped mine infirmities with groanings 
which could not be uttered,' leading me to pray 
for that which God had determined to bestow j 
making intercession for my husband, according to 
the will of God. 

* O sing unto the Lord a new song, for he hath 
done marvellous things. His right hand and his 
holy arm hath gotten him the victory. The Lord 
hath made known bis salvation. His righteous- 



DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. l«7 

ness hath he openly shown in the sight of the 
heathen. He hath remembered his mercy and 
his truth toward the house of Israel, All the ends 
of the earth have seen the salvation of our God,* 
Psalm xcviii. 



February A^ 1813. 

My dear grand-children, J. and I. B., waited on 

their beloved pastor, Dr. R , and professed 

their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Saviour 
of sinners, and their Saviour : their desire to give 
themselves to the Lord, and to his church, and to 
be in all things governed by it. To receive the 
seal of the Covenant of Grace, commemorate the 
dying love of their Redeemer the next opportu» 
nity, and swear allegiance to him over the sym- 
bols of his body and blood. 

Glory to God for this fresh manifestation of his 
mercy and grace to sinners. Not unto us, O Lord 
God, but to thy name be the glory. Thou hast 
made a Covenant with thy chosen, and with be- 
lievers in him ; and thou hast, by thy Holy Spirit,, 
drawn them to take hold of this thy own Covenant, 
and to give themselves to thee to be made the 
subjects of it. And now, O Lord, remember thy 
own Covenant^ and do as thou hast said. ' Put 
thy laws in their minds, and write them in their 
hearts, and be unto them a God, and they shall be 
unto thee a people ; be merciful to their unright- 
eousness, and their sins and their iniquities remem- 
ber no more,' Give them understanding to know 



128 DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. 

and believe thy laws, memories to retain them, 
hearts to love them, consciences to recognise them, 
courage to profess, and power to put in practice. 
O grant that the whole habit and frame of their 
souls may be a table and transcript of thy law. 
Blessed Redeemer ! gather these lambs in thy 
arms, and carry them in thy bosom. O seal them 
with the Holy Spirit of promise. They look for- 
ward to that feast of love which thou didst institute 
in that same night in which thou wast betrayed 
into the hands of sinners. If it may please thee, 
' manifest thyself to them as thou dost not unto the 
world.' Blessed Shepherd, call these lambs by 
name ; may they know thy voice, rejoice to hear 
it, and follow thee. In all the preparatory exer- 
cises speak to their hearts, and commune with 
them in secret. O give them some love-tokens, 
which they may never forget ; and make thyself 
* known to them in the breaking of bread.' Ex- 
ercise their parents with thankfulness and grati- 
tude, and thine aged servant, to whom, in an espe- 
cial manner, belong ' shame and confusion of face,' 
while she stands amazed at the stately steps of thy 
free sovereign mercy and grace to her, and to her 
seed, according to the flesh. 'Husband of the 
widow ! Father of the fatherless ! Shield of the 
stranger !' Glorify thy name, magnify thy Grace : 
all this thou hast been to me. Exercise these 
parents with deep humility : if they have received 
Grace to be more faithful than I: yet thy holy 
eye has seen much shortcoming in them also. 



DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. m 

Glory to thy name for the grace in which they 
stand, and that thou hast enabled them to keep 
these lambs out of the world. Oh ! let this be a 
heart-searching time with us all ; humble us, and 
exalt thy name, and magnify thy Grace. 



July 17, 1814. 

Sacrament Sabbath, Mr. R preached from 

first Peter i. 8, % ' Whom having not seen ye 
love ; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet 
beheving, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and 
full of glory ; receiving the end of your faith, even 
the salvation of your souls.' 

I had requested to be brought to my Lord's 
banqueting house, and to be feasted with love this 
day. I ate the bread and drank the wine in the 
faith, that I ate the flesh and drank the blood of 
the Son of man, and dwelt in him and he in me. 
Took a close view of my familiar friend Death, 
accompanied with the presence of my Saviour, 
his sensible presence, 1 cannot look at it without 
this ; it is my only petition concerning it. I have 
had desires and wishes of certain circumstances, 
but they are nearly gone. It is my sincere de» 
sire that God may be glorified, and he knows best 
how and by what circumstances. I retain my 
one petition, 

" Only to me thy countenance show, 
I ask no more the Jordan through." 

9 



LETTER 
TO MISS VAN WYCK NEW-YORK. 
Rockaway^ 1810 

MY DEAEj MY BELOVED ELIZA, 

Mr. and Mrs, B. are here on a visit for one 
night. I did not expect to see them so soon, or I 
would have had a letter ready. I expect another 
opportunity in the course of a few^ days, vv^hen I 
vv^ill send you a long letter, from my heart, and, I 
hope, dictated by your and my Teacher. 

I learn by my children that you continue much 
in the same vv^ay in which I left you. It is your 
•own God v^ho mixes your cup, and it is to you a 
cup of blessing; there is no curse in it. Your 
Jesus drank that cup to the very dregs, that bitter 
as well as sweet might be to you a cup of blessing. 
O, then, my darling, hold fast by your Re- 
deemer, He is the Lord your Righteousness, and 
the Lord your strength : He connects your profit 
with his own glory. You shall in this protracted 
aJSiiction manifest it, and hold out the word of life 
to those around you.* You shall witness for him 
that He is the Lord, and besides Him there is no 
Saviour — that 'He gathers the lambs in his arms, 
and carries them in his bosom — that he is to them 

* This prediction was remarkably fulfilled in the expe- 
rience of this dear young saint; an interesting account of 
whose illness and death has been pubUshed in the Chris- 
tian's Magazine, 



LETTER TO MISS VAN WYCK. lai 

a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from 
the tempest — as rivers of water in a dry place, 
and as the shadow of a great rock in. a weary 
land.' That it is he that teacheth them to profit^ 
and leadeth them by the way that they should go, 
and that in due time he will perfect all that con- 
cerns them. 
Farewell I Yours with affection, 

L GRAHAM. 

TO THE SAME. 

Eockaway, Sabbath, 1810, 

MY DEAR, MY BELOVED ELIZA, 

I wrote you a few lines yesterday by Mr. B. 
I now propose to fulfil my promise. I expect an 
opportunity to-morrow or next day, for I saw a 
great many carriages pass this way to the tavern, 
as I suppose, from New- York. It is a common 
thing with some to come here on Saturday, and 
return on Monday, to spend this blessed day in 
frolic. You would not, I know, exchange situa- 
tions with them; you would rather be suffering 
than sinning. 

It is your own observation that God does all in 
wisdom ; in this wisdom he is pleased to lengthen 
your day of affliction. Sin, my darling, is the 
cause of all suffering ; but is not always the imme- 
diaie cause. Beside particular chastisement for 
particular sins, there are afflictions to be filled up 
in the body of Christ, (his church,) a measure of 
which in kind and degree, is appointed by un» 



132 LETTER TO 

erring wisdom to each individual member. Col. i. 
24. These sufferings bear no part in atoning for 
sin, nor in redeeming our forfeited inheritance, 
Christ ' trode the wine-press alone, and of the peo- 
ple there was none to help him.' ' He was made 
sin for -us, who knew no sin, that we might be 
made the righteousness of God in him ; who when 
he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on 
the right hand of the Majesty on high,' Heb. i. 3. 
Again, chapter x. 11. 'And every Priest (in the 
Levitical law) standeth daily ministering and 
offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can 
never take away sins. But this man, after he had 
offered one sacrifice for sins, for ever sat down on 
the right hand of God ; for by one offering he hath 
perfected for ever them that are sanctified, whereof 
the Holy Ghost is also a witness to us, for after he 
had said before,' (see from verse 5.) ' This is the 
covenant which I will make with them after those 
days, saith the Lord — i will put my laws into 
their hearts, and in their minds will I write them, 
and their sins and iniquities will I remember no 
more. Now where remission of these is, there is 
no more offering for sin*' Paul says the Holy Ghost 
is a witness, because he copies from the ancient 
scriptures the prophecies of Jeremiah, chap. xxxi. 
31, and Ezek. xxxvi. 25, and from the Psalms 
Ix. 7. Your mother will read to you also the 8th 
chapter of Hebrews, containing the same things, 
the new covenant, in consequence of Christ as the 
surety of &in»er&, having made full atonementj^ 



MISS VAN WYCK. 138 

magnified the law, and made it honourable: 
therefore there is now no condemnation to them 
who are in Christ Jesus. It has pleased God, my 
darh'ng, in the adorable plan of reconciling sinners 
to himself by Jesus Christ, to perfect at once a 
justifying righteousness for them, and to bestow 
it upon them as a free gift. ' This is the record, 
that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life 
is in his Son*' 1 John v. 11. But it has not pleased 
him to deliver us at once from depravity ; provision 
is made for final deliverance by the same covenant, 
and is affected by the same power, but in this be- 
Kevers are called to work. It is evident from 
Scripture, and the experience of Christians an- 
swers to it, that in the hour of believing they pass 
from death to life, considered as a state. This is 
the hour of the new birth — they then receive life 
for the time, and it is their privilege, by the con- 
stitution of the new covenant, to ask and receive, 
from day to day, grace to help in every time of 
need. To them, and not to the unregenerate, the 
exhortation is addressed ; ' Work out your own 
salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God 
who worketh in you, both to will and to do, of 
his good pleasure.' The means are of God's ap- 
pointing, in the diligent use of which they go from 
strength to strength. The grand mean is faith in 
God's promises, of which there are very many in 
the Scriptures. Believers are to put forth their 
own exertions, as the children of Israel were called 
to go out against their enemies, in the faith that 



134 LETTER TO 

God would give them victory, and lead them to 
their promised rest. The battle was the Lord's, 
and he fought for them ; but the means were their 
exertions. Believers are God's workmanship ; 
but this work he carries on by exercising their 
natural powers, which he sanctifies to a diflferent 
end from that to which they were formerly by 
their own spirit directed. Still the Scriptures 
testifies that, ' if any man says he has no sin, he 
deceives himself, and the truth is not in him;' and, 
while sin remains, its consequence, sufiering, must. 
The judgments of God, as the moral governor of 
the world, are denounced against, and executed 
upon the workers of iniquity. The children of 
God experience personal chastisements for per- 
sonal sins, as a provision of the covenant. Psal. 
Ixxxix. 30. And, if I mistake not, there are afflic- 
tions experienced by individuals, as members of 
Christ's body, in which God does not bring into 
view the personal sins of the sufferer. In this sense 
I read Paul's epistle to the Colossians, i. 24. ' "Who 
now rejoice in my sufferings, and fill up that which 
is behind of the sufferings of Christ in my flesh, 
for his body's sake, which is the Church.' Thes. 
iii. 3. And sent Timotheus to establish you, and 
to comfort you concerning your faith, that no man 
should be moved by these afflictions, for your- 
selves know that we are appointed thereunto. 
Phil. ii. 17. ' Yea, if I be offered upon the sacri- 
fice, and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice 
with you all j for the same cause do ye joy and 



MISS VAN WYCK. 135 

rejoice with me.' 2 Cor. i. 6. 'And whether we 
be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation ; 
and whether we be comforted, it is for your salva- 
tion and consolation.' There is no conscious per- 
sonal sin expressed in these sufferings ; on the con- 
trary, Paul says, verse 12, ' For our rejoicing is this, 
the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity 
and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but 
by the grace of God, we have had our conversation 
in the world, and more abundantly to youward.' 

Most of the prophets, and all the apostles, ex- 
cept one, suffered martyrdom. Those indeed 
were public characters, but the beggar Lazarus, 
who, in addition to poverty, was full of sores, was 
carried by the angels from the rich man's gate to 
Abraham's bosom. And thousands and tens of 
thousands of redeemed highly sanctified ones have 
suffered lengthened martyrdom, and perished with 
hunger, in holes and caves of the earth, unknown 
in history, except in groups — unseen at the time, 
except by the eye of the omniscient Jehovah, in 
whose views the hairs of their head stand num- 
bered ; their tears are in his bottle ; nor shall one 
sigh nor one groan perish without its result. 

O, my Eliza, what delightful wonders shall 
open to our view, when defivered from these 
prison-holds of earth ! 

I have finished one sheet, my dear Eliza ; 1 fear 
it is too much, and may prove too fatiguing, espe- 
cially as there are many references requiring a 
stretch of attention. I have been reading the 



13t) LETTER TO MISS VAN WYCK. 

epistle to the Hebrews, and you have naturally 
got my thoughts on part of it. 

1 remember once of your complaining that you 
had made small progress in knowledge, in com- 
parison of a young person that had just left you ; 
but you checked yourself, and said, " The Lord 
has given me faith, let me be thankful." I at 
that time considered your departure as very near, 
and advised you to keep your eyes fixed on Christ, 
as your Redeemer and Saviour, who had per- 
formed all things for you, and would perfect all 
that concerned you ; and added, one hour in 
Heaven will make you wiser than the most en- 
lightened Saint on earth. Since that it has pleased 
your Lord to add many days to your life. He has 
mitigated your pain, and given you some inter- 
vals of ease and composure, and our dear Eliza 
has grown in that time. Should it please God to 
spare you lor a yet longer season, and continue 
your intervals of ease, no subject can be so pro- 
fitable ; and I hope your Lord will make it plea- 
sant as that of the contents of the New Testament, 
which your Saviour bequeathed to you, sealed 
and ratified in his blood. There are a vast variety 
of precious promises contained in the Scriptures 
of the Old and New Testament, which are all 
yours with Christ ; for, as a member of his body, 
*you are built upon the foundation of the apostles 
and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief 
corner stone.' And now I commend you to your 
own covenant God, who does and will support 



LETTER TO MR. JAMES TODD. 137 

you through life and through death to that happy 
land, where we shall all meet ; and, O, then, ' eye 
hath not seen, nor ear heard ; neither hath it en- 
tered into the heart of man to conceive the things 
he hath prepared for them that love him.' 
I am, with much love and affection, yours. 

I. GRAHAM. 

TO MR. JAMES TODD, NEW-YORK. 

Rockaway^ L. L 

MY DEAR JAMES, 

This will probably be handed you by our mu- 
tual friend, Mrs. C . The thought of her being 

with you, makes me part with her with less reluc- 
tance. You have not been forgotten by either : we 
have talked much of you, and have united in 
prayer to your and our God, that he may manifest 
himself unto you as your reconciled Father in 
Christ Jesus; and give you 'joy and peace in 
believing' — that he may give you patience in suf- 
fering, and entire resignation to his most holy will. 
It has, my dear young friend, been my earnest 
inquiry, especially of late years, standing on the 
brink of eternity, " What is there within us, or 
without us, on which a sinner can rest in a dying 
hour?" If it be a holy life, there is no peace for 
me. Taking the law of God for my rule, back- 
slider is my name ; yet peace I have found, and 
on the best security ; this blessed Bible is my 
charter. I have searched it with diligence and 
prayer and my mind is confirmed in the follow- 



138 LETTER TO 

ing truths: — That the whole world is become 
guilty before God, and is under his wrath and 
curse on that account. This is our state ; a miser- 
able state it is, and as hopeless as miserable, for 
any thing we can do for ourselves. But I read in 
this Bible to the full amount of the followmg con- 
clusions — that in the counsels of the mysterious 
triune Jehovah, Jesus Christ, the second person of 
the incomprehensible Trinity, was sanctified, or 
set apart to become the Saviour of their law-con- 
demned sinners, to take their nature upon him, 
and the whole of the requisitions of the eternal 
immutable law of God upon him, to become in 
every sense their surety. Man is a rebel, it is put 
to his account — a penalty is incurred, He, as their 
surety, is made liable. Are they again to be 
made heirs of eternal life ? Perfect obedience is 
the condition, and of him, as their surety, it is 
demanded. All this being fulfilled, sinners are 
become his property— he has paid their debts, 
fulfilled their duties, and merited for them eternal 
life, all in their own nature, as their head and 
representative ; so that believers are complete in 
him. This is the righteousness of God, wrought 
out by Jesus Christ, in his own person, God man, 
as their surety. To this nothing of the believer's 
is to be added—with this nothing of his mixed,' 
it is for ever perfect ; entirely distinct from that 
holiness of heart and life which is wrought in him 
in consequence of this. It is the believer's by pure 
imputation. God has declared himself well pleased 



MR. JAMES TODD. IN 

with this righteousness, and that being himself re- 
conciled, he is in Christ Jesus reconciling sinners 
to him. Hence all the invitations scattered thick 
in the Old and New Testament, not only to the 
penitent, weary, and heavy laden, but to the 
stout-hearted, the backslider, to them that are 
wearying themselves in their own way. ' Ho ! 
every one that thirsteth, whosoever will, let him 
come and take of the water of life freely.' Hence 
all the promises annexed to believing, accepting, 
receiving, trusting, resting : Christ the Saviour is 
the object — the gift of God to sinners for all the 
above purposes. The Lord has convinced me 
that I have nothing in myself on which I can rest ; 
my conscience echoes to his word in all that it 
asserts of my nature and my state ; but this 
Saviour is provided for sinners exactly of this 
description. I am invited to put in my claim, I 
believe the record, I rest my salvation on his word ; 
God giveth to me eternal life, and this life is in his 
Son. Jesus calls me to look unto him, and be 
saved ; I do look unto him, and I am saved. He 
assures me that those who come unto him shall 
never be cast out. I do go to him, and commit 
my sinful soul to his keeping ; I shall not be cast 
out. That as many as receive the gift of his Son, 
receive at the same time power to become the 
children of God. I do receive his gift, and lay 
claim to his promise. He is my reconciled Father, 
and 1 am his adopted child, and he hath sent his 
Spirit into my heart, by which I can say, Abba,. 



140 LETTER TO MR. JAMES TODD. 

Father. I have, my dear James, taken this method 
of laying before you the grounds of my own hope, 
because I think it the most simple method, and 
containing at the same time my counsel to you to 
lay hold on the same hope. The warrant is given 
us in God's own word, as sinners, without respect 
to fruit or any works of ours. I can, if necessary, 
give you chapter and verse, to the full amount ; 
but you have those about you who can give it to 
you by little and little, as your weak state can 
bear it.'* This gift is held out to the sinner's ac- 
ceptance in many places of the word of God, and 
becomes the sinner's in the moment of believing. 
Provision is made by the same covenant for his 
sanctification ; but that makes no part of justifying 
righteousness. Christ is made of God unto him 
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and com- 
plete redemption. Try, my precious young friend, 
to lay hold on this hope, and enter into the rest 
provided for the believer here. Stretch forth ' the 
withered hand,' the Lord himself will give you 
strength. Commit your precious soul into his 
hands, and rest assured that he will perfect all 
that concerns you«-work all his work in you — 
carry you safely through the Jordan of death, and 
put you in possession of the inheritance he has 
purchased for you. That all this shall be, is the 
prayer and firm hope of 
Your affectionate friend, 

ISABELLA GRAHAM. 



REST. 

Genesis ii. ' Thus the heavens and the earth 
were finished, and on the seventh day God ended 
his work which he had made, and he rested the 
seventh day from all his work which he had made ; 
and God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified 
it, because that in it he had rested from all his 
work that he had created and made,' 

Exodus xvi. * And Moses said. To-morrow is 
the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord. So 
the people rested on the seventh day.' 

Luke xxiii. * And the women followed after, 
and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was 
laid, and they returned, and prepared spices and 
ointments, and rested the Sabbath day according 
to the commandment.' 

Christ rested in the tomb of Joseph the last 
Sabbath under the law : but the evening and the 
morning were the first day. On that morning he 
closed his work of humiliation, manifested his 
victory over death, the curse denounced, by rising 
from the tomb, and rested on the first day of the 
week from all his humiliation work ; his death, 
burial, and rest in the grave on the seventh day, 
being the last part of that work. 



142 m 

ITiefoUowing Poem was not found till after Mrs, 
Grahami^s Funeral Sermon was preached. 



JORDAN. 

Joshua chap. i. 11, and chap. iii. Psalm xxiii. 4, Ixxiii- 24. 
The solemn hour, my soul, draws near, 
The holy Ark and Priests appear : 
They forward move to Jordan's flood, 
The type, thou know^est, thy Cov'nant God. 
The signal too, to thee is known, 
Obey, remove, and follow on ; 
The Ark of the Cov'nant is thy guide^ 
Shrink not, but face the rolling tide. 
The waves toss high their foaming heads 
But can' St thou perish? Jesus leads, 
This way before I ne'er did pass, 
But Jesus, thy forerunner, has. 
When all its banks it overflow' d, 
All nature wrapt in midnight cloud 
While darkness had its hour and power, 
And all God's billows pass'd him o'er. 
The waves for him, must not divide. 
Deep calls to deep on every side ; 
Around his head the surges roll, 
O'erwhelming ev'n his very soul. 

He substituted in my stead, 
The curse for sin laid on his head; 
The law's demands came like a flood, 
Sinner or surety must give blood. 
'Till jot and tittle had been paid, 
Atonement due for sin been made, 
No way for him, no ray of grace : 
Justice ev'n hid his Father's face. 



POETRY. 148 

From brim to bottom he drank up, 

Of wrath, that deep mysterious cup ; 

This Jordan pass' d, then rose on high, 

And captive led captivity. 

Justice now fully satisfied, 

The law now honour' d, magnified; 

At God's right hand he takes his place, 

Executor of Cov'nant Grace. 

Crown' d by Jehovah's firm decre©> 

With universal sov'reignty; 

All nature owns his powerful sway, 

He speaks, the elements obey. 

The emblem, then thou may'st pursue, 

For safe to thee this Jordan through ; 

The priests but touch the watery space, 

When io ! the floods desert their place. 

They gather up upon an heap, 

Leave dry the channel of the deep ; 

The ark and priests there take their stand, 

And beckon thee to leave the land. 

I come, my best belov'd, I come; 

Now lead me to our Father's home; 

On thy dear person fix mine eye, 

And faith firm footing shall supply. 

I fear no ill while thou art near, 

But let thy voice salute my ear ; 

Should spirits faint, and 'scape the sigh, 

With these sweet words "Fear not, 'tis I." 

With courage fresh my soul shall tread. 

On faith's firm ground where thou dost lead; 

While still upon thy gracious face, 

My steady eye maintains its place. 

And now, my Joshua, choose, and lay, 

The stones in Jordan's middle way; 

Let them o'ertop the flowing wave 

Memorial of thy power to save. 



144 POETRY. IP 

For once a suit I did prefer, 
With feeble hope, and trembling fear ; 
That I might have a Pisgah view, 
In Jordan's swells of Canaan new. 
O then, thy glory let me see, 
Then cause thy face to shine on me ; 
And tune my heart, and tune my voice, 
And language furnish to rejoice : 
That all around may lend their tongue, 
And sweetly join my dying song ; 
And Newton sav'd by grace like me, 
We'll sing of sov' reign grace with thee. 



THE END. 



